Removal of aqueous heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd) by scoria from Jeju, Korea

Heavy metal release from wastewater is a serious environmental problem, and therefore, various wastewater treatment techniques have been developed. Among the techniques, sorption technique is most attractive. Considerable researches have been recently focused on finding out inexpensive sorbents, especially from various natural materials. In order to evaluate the applicability of the scoria taken from the Jeju Island, Korea to remove heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd) from aqueous solutions, equilibrium sorption experiments were conducted in this study. In equilibrium tests, powdered activated carbon (PAC), one of the most commonly used sorbents, was also tested to compare the effectiveness of the Jeju scoria with that of PAC. The Jeju scoria had larger adsorption capacity and affinity for metal ions (Pb(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II)) than PAC. The sorption parameters of the two sorbents were evaluated by using both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms, and the sorption data were better fitted to the Freundlich isotherm. In addition, the sorption behavior of metal ions (Pb(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II)) onto the scoria displayed a typical characteristic of the cation sorption. The removal of metal ions decreased at a lower pH condition due to competition with hydrogen ions for the sorption sites of Jeju scoria, while the removal increased at a high pH condition due to hydroxide precipitation.