Peat as Sorbent for Cu2+ and Cr3+ Ions

Abstract

Peat as Sorbent for Cu2+ and Cr3+ Ions Heavy metals as trace elements can often be found in industrial waste waters, and their discharge to the environment is a significant threat due to their acute toxicity to the aquatic and terrestrial life. The common methods used for removal of toxic metals and trace elements from the municipal and industrial waste waters are based on their adsorption onto insoluble compounds - sorbents. Synthetic sorbents usually are quite expensive; therefore, as a prospective approach to the metal removal, the use of a natural sorbent - peat - was tested. Peat as sorbent was proved to have a relatively high sorption capacity in respect to the studied metal ions, it can be used batchwise and in a dynamic regime and is a relatively robust and reliable sorbent regarding pH, the ionic strength, and the amounts of sorbed metal.

Removal of Hexavalent Chromium from Aqueous Solutions Using Sulfonated Peat

“…Peat samples (0.08 ± 0.002 g) were added to 25 mL of 100 mg/L Cr(VI) solutions and shaken at the rate of 300 rpm at room temperature of 25 ± 1 • C and pH of about 6-7 for different periods of 10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80,90,120,150,180,210,240,270, and 300 min, respectively. The material in each tube was then centrifuged, and chromium ion concentrations of their supernatants were measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES).…”

“…Hence, this material has been widely used to remove heavy metals from wastewater in slaughterhouses, septic tanks, and the like. In the last decade, a growing number of scientists and researchers have been examining peat as a heavy metal adsorbent, with many of their research projects focusing on the treatment of water contaminated with Cu [24,25], Cd [26], Zn [26], Co [27], Pb [28], or compound heavy metals [26,27,[29][30][31] by filtration. Likewise, many studies on chromium adsorption have used all types of natural peat as an adsorbent [32].…”