Adsorption study of Pb(II), Cd(II), Hg(II) and Cr(III) onto calix[4]resorcinarene derivative

Abstract

In this study, the removal of several heavy metal ions of Pb(II), Cd(II), Hg(II) and Cr(III) from aqueous medium via sorption process onto calix[4]resorcinarene derivative was investigated. The used adsorbent was highly oxygenated calix[4]resorcinarene namely C-4-hydroxyphenylcalix[4] resorcinarene. Several adsorption parameters were studied including pH, adsorbent dosage, interaction time as well as the kinetic studies. While the maximum removals of Pb(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II) were observed in pH 5, the removal of Cr(III) reached the maximum value at pH 6. The optimum adsorbent dosages for Pb(II), Hg(II) and Cr(III) were 0.025 g, whereas that for Cd(II) was 0.05 g. The kinetic data were evaluated by using three kinetic models of first order model of Santosa, pseudofirst order of Lagergren and pseudo-second order of Ho. The results showed that the adsorption of these metal ions could be well described with Ho's pseudo-first order model.