Kinetics of adsorption of metal ions on inorganic materials: A review

It is necessary to establish the rate law of adsorbate–adsorbent interactions to understand the mechanism by which the solute accumulates on the surface of a solid and gets adsorbed to the surface. A number of theoretical models and equations are available for the purpose and the best fit of the experimental data to any of these models is interpreted as giving the appropriate kinetics for the adsorption process. There is a spate of publications during the last few years on adsorption of various metals and other contaminants on conventional and non-conventional adsorbents, and many have tried to work out the kinetics. This has resulted from the wide interest generated on using adsorption as a practical method for treating contaminated water. In this review, an attempt has been made to discuss the kinetics of adsorption of metal ions on inorganic solids on the basis of published reports. A variety of materials like clays and clay minerals, zeolites, silica gel, soil, activated alumina, inorganic polymer, inorganic oxides, fly ash, etc. have been considered as the adsorbents and cations and anions of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn as adsorbate have been covered in this review. The majority of the interactions have been divided into either pseudo first order or second order kinetics on the basis of the best fit obtained by various groups of workers, although second order kinetics has been found to be the most predominant one. The discussion under each category is carried out with respect to each type of metal ion separately. Application of models as given by the Elovich equation, intra-particle diffusion and liquid film diffusion has also been shown by many authors and these have also been reviewed. The time taken for attaining equilibrium in each case has been considered as a significant parameter and is discussed almost in all the cases. The values of the kinetic rate coefficients indicate the speed at which the metal ions adsorb on the materials and these are discussed in all available cases. The review aims to give a comprehensive picture on the studies of kinetics of adsorption during the last few years.