Competitive sorption of copper and nickel ions from aqueous solution using peat

Bicomponent aqueous solutions of copper and nickel ions have been used to investigate the sorption of metal ions onto peat. Peat, a low cost sorbent, has shown a high capacity for the sorption of single component metal ions attributed to extensive carboxylic acids within its structure. Copper and nickel ions were selected as typical metals in the effluents of electroplating industries. The effects of competitive sorption in batch systems were studied at various metal ion concentrations. In this study the Butler and Ockrent model was modified using a coefficient, η. Two models were developed based on the interaction coefficient η. The first model incorporates a constant fixed η factor for each metal ion into the Butler-Ockrent equation. The second model incorporates a variable η factor into the Butler-Ockrent equation; this interaction factor varies as a function of sorbent surface coverage. Predicted equilibrium data are found to be in excellent agreement with experimental values using both modified models for various mole ratios of copper and nickel ions in competitive sorption.