Competitive Adsorption of Cd and Cu on Surface of Humic Acid Extracted from Peat

Chemical speciation and transport of heavy metals in soil environment could be controlled by humic acid. In order to understand the mechanism on competitive adsorption of Cd and Cu on the surface of humic acid extracted from peat, the charge development of humic acid were investigate through a batch adsorption experiment with a series of different background electrolytes levels. The competitive adsorption of Cd and Cu to the humic acid were estimated according to the model using the proton binding constant obtained from the above batch test. The affinity of Cu to the carboxyl group on the humic acid was higher than that of Cd, but the affinity to the phenolic group was lower than to the carboxyl group. It seems that the amount of adsorbed Cd and Cu could be estimated using the proton binding constant obtained from a solution with single background ion. However, it is difficult to interpret the competitive adsorption of Cd and Cu with the constant for single background ion.