Hydrologie: Aktuelle Forschung

Recovery of Cobalt and Copper from Textile, Electroplating and Tannery Effluents Using Electrocoagulation Method

Abstract

Zaib Hussain, Muhammad Imran Din, Sana Nayab and Manzar Islam

An Electrocoagulation (EC) process has been conducted in an electrolytic cell with iron electrodes to eradicate and, consequently, recover copper and cobalt from synthetic and industrial effluent samples. Purity of recovered metal has been determined by synthesis of crystalline salts and analysis by X-ray diffractometer (XRD). Operating parameters such as metal ion concentration, pH, current density and temperature were investigated for removal efficiency of copper and cobalt. Results indicated that removal efficiency of copper (pH 3.5) and cobalt (pH 4.5) was 98.8% and 97.9% respectively. Adsorption studies were investigated by applying Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models. On the basis of regression coefficient R2 values, Langmuir isotherm models were obeyed. Adsorption kinetic studies demonstrated that the EC process was pre-eminently depicted using a pseudosecond-order kinetic model. The present method is simple and efficient compared to existing water treatment technologies.