Application of Poly(acrlymide-co-sodium methacrylate) Hydrogels in Copper and Cadmium Removal from Aqueous Solution

Abstract

The application of poly(acrylamide-co-sodium methacrylate) hydrogel for the removal of Cu2+ and Cd2+ ions from aqueous solutions has been investigated as a function of pH, adsorbent dose and temperature. FTIR spectra showed that -NH2 and -COOH groups are involved in both metal ions adsorption which followed pseudo-first order kinetics. Nonlinear regression analysis of six isotherms, Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson, Toth, Dubinin-Radushkevich and Sips, have been applied to the sorption data, while the best interpretation was given by Redlich-Peterson. Based on the separation factor, RL, the Cu2+ and Cd2+ ions adsorption is favorable. The maximum adsorption of 24.05 mg/g (48%) for Cu2+ ions and 32.99 mg/g (66%) for Cd2+ ions has been obtained at pH 5.0 and sorbent dosage of 300 mg.