Abstract
Nanostructured zirconium ferrite with improved surface area of 392 m(2)/g has been found to show high adsorption affinity for Co2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+. The adsorption was found to be greatly dependent on pH and the maximum adsorption was found at pH 6. The adsorption trends were found to be best fitted with Langmuir adsorption isotherm with regression coefficient (R-2) value of 0.999, 0.998, and 0.999 for Co2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+, respectively, at 288 K. The values of X-m and K-L were calculated and showed the maximum adsorption capacities towards Cu2+ and minimum adsorption of Co2+ under the optimized pH, contact time, concentration of adsorbate, adsorbent dose, and temperature. The values of thermodynamic parameters Delta H degrees, Delta S degrees, and Delta G degrees were calculated and showed that the adsorption of Co2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+ on ZFNPs takes place through weak van der Waals interaction. Further, the adsorption of Co2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+ on ZFNPs was found to follow the pseudo-second-order kinetics.