Enhancing of competitive adsorptive removal of zinc and manganese from aqueous solution by iron oxide-combusted coal gangue composite

Abstract

Reuse of coal gangue (CG) is an efficient approach to decrease the disadvantages of coal washing operations. In this study, the CG samples were collected from the north of Iran and have been modified by loading iron oxide to utilize as an adsorbent for zinc and manganese ions. The mineralogical and structural of iron oxide-combusted (CG) composite was characterized. The equilibrium studies indicate that the adsorption process in both single and binary systems was carried out in a heterogeneous and multilayer adsorption phenomenon. Kinetic studies indicate that intra-particle diffusion is the rate-limiting steps of the adsorption.