Equilibrium adsorption isotherm studies of Cu (II) and Co (II) in high concentration aqueous solutions on Ag-TiO2-modified kaolinite ceramic adsorbents

Photocatalytic ceramic adsorbents were prepared from locally sourced kaolinite clay minerals for the removal of copper and cobalt ions from high concentration aqueous solutions. The minerals were treated with mild acid before modification using silver nanoparticles sources and titanium-oxide nanoparticles. Batch adsorption experiment was carried out on the targeted ions and the results were analyzed by Langmuir and Freundlich equation at different concentrations (100–1000 mg/l). As-received raw materials do not exhibit any adsorption capacity. However, the adsorption isotherms for modified kaolinite clay ceramic adsorbents could be fitted well by the Langmuir model for Cu2+ and Co2+ with correlation coefficient (R) of up to 0.99705. The highest and lowest monolayer coverage (q max) were 93.023 and 30.497 mg/g for Cu2+ and Co2+, respectively. The separation factor (R L ) was less than one (<1), indicating that the adsorption of metal ions on modified ceramic adsorbent is favorable. The highest adsorbent adsorption capacity (K f ) and intensity (n) constants obtained from Freundlich model are 14.401 (Cu2+ on KLN-T) and 6.057 (Co2+ on KLN-T).