Abstract
The equilibrium uptake of cadmium (Cd
2+
), copper (Cu
2+
), and nickel (Ni
2+
) ions, both singly and in combination, by local Iraqi phosphate rocks (PR) was studied in a batch system. The phosphate rock was characterized using BET, FT-IR, XRD, and SEM techniques. Adsorption isotherms were developed for both the single and ternary-component systems and expressed by the mono- and multicomponent Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson, and Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption models; model parameters were estimated by the nonlinear regression method using STATISTICA version 6 software. To understand the action of metals uptake, factors influencing the adsorption of the heavy metals including pH, initial metal ion concentration, weight of the adsorbent, mixing speed, contact time, and temperature were investigated. It was found that the mono- and multicomponent adsorption equilibrium data fitted very well to the Langmuir model with high determination coefficient (R
2
). The maximum loading capacities (q
max
) were 70.852, 53.372, and 48.045 mg/g for Cd
2+
, Cu
2+
, and Ni
2+
respectively. However, in the ternary system the loading capacity decreased because of competition between ions to binding sites of the adsorbent. Adsorption data were modeled using the pseudo-first- and pseudo-second-order kinetic and intraparticle diffusion models. It was seen that the pseudo- first-order kinetic equation could best describe the adsorption kinetics. Thermodynamic parameters showed that the adsorption of investigated heavy metals onto PR was endothermic and spontaneous in nature and the process is physiosorption. Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis indicated that carboxylic (C˭O), phosphine (p-H), and hydroxyl (-OH) groups in PR played an important role in the adsorption process. In conclusion, PR was found suitable as an abundant adsorbent for removal of the selected metal ions from aqueous solutions.