Copper Adsorption from Aqueous Solutions by Using Red Mud - An Aluminium Industry Waste

Abstract

Rapid inustriliazation and usage of heavy metals in industrial process have resulted in an unprecedented increase in the flux into groundwater and industrial effluents. The removal of heavy metal ions from industrial wastewaters using defferent adsorbents is currently of great interest. Adsorption by red mud is investigated as possible alternative to the conventional methods of copper removal from aqueous synthetic and industrial effluents. In this study, various factors such as particle size, red mud/solution ratio, contact time and initial concentration for copper removal using red mud are taken into account, and promising results are obtained. The results indicate that the red mud can be successfully employed for the removal of Cu2+ in a wide range concentrations.