Simultaneous adsorption of iron and manganese from aqueous solutions employing an adsorbent coal

Abstract

In this work, an adsorbent coal was characterized and its sorption properties for the removal of iron and manganese from aqueous solutions were determined. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD) identified the presence of quartz, magnetite and manganese oxide in the adsorbent coal. The results of the adsorption isotherms verified the adsorption of iron and manganese by adsorbent coal showing a linear behaviour and indicated that chemisorption and physisorption occurred. The kinetic results were best adjusted to the pseudo-second order model with a 0.999 correlation coefficient. The results showed that the adsorbent coal could be used efficiently for the removal of iron and manganese from aqueous solutions.