STUDY ON THE REMOVAL OF AQUEOUS HEAVY METAL CATIONS BY 13X ZEOLITE

In this study,the adsorption and competitive adsorption of Pb2+,Cd2+ and Cu2+onto 13X zeolite was studied.The influence of aqueous Na+,Mg2+ and Ca2+ cations on the removal efficiency of the heavy metals was also investigated.The results showed that the adsorption of the heavy metals onto the zeolite was well described by Langmuir adsorption model and the maximum adsorption amounts of Pb2+,Cd2+and Cu2+ onto 13X zeolite were found to be 2.47mmol/L,2.0mmol/L,1.78mmol/L,respectively.The competitive adsorption results revealed that the adsorption selectivity of the zeolite for the metal cations decreased as Pb2+Cd2+Cu2+.The removal efficiencies of the metal cations were related to other ions.In particular,the presence of Ca2+ led to a markedly decreased adsorption capacity of the zeolite for Cu2+.