A Preliminary study of removal of some heavy metals from aqueous medium by a mesoporous hydroxysodalite zeolite prepared from basalt rich in calc-plagioclaseby alkali activation

Abstract

This work presents an exploration of the use of hydroxysodalite zeolite prepared from basalt rich in calc-plagioclaseby alkali activation for removal of some heavy metals from aqueous medium. The preliminary results of batch and column experiments indicated a quantitative and fast removal of the three investigated ions, Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Zn²⁺ from aqueous solutions. The data from the batch experiments and the column experiments jointly support the notion that hydroxysodalite zeolite prepared from basalt rich in calc-plagioclase is an efficient adsorbent for the investigated heavy metals.  Almost quantitative removal of the ions was achieved within a period of 15 min of exposure of the solution to the adsorbent in batch experiments and through passing a small column filled with the adsorbent. The highest removal efficiency  by the zeolite prepared from basalt rich in calc-plagioclase of  the three tested heavy metal Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Zn²⁺ were 99.98% ,99.76% and 99.93 % respectively.

Keywords: hydroxysodalite zeolite, basalt utilization, heavy ions removal, pollution  remediation

DOI: 10.7176/CMR/12-7-09

Publication date:November 30^th 2020