Uptake characteristics of Pb(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) by natural magnetite: Application to river samples

Natural magnetite was investigated for the removal of Pb(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) ions from water samples. The optimum experimental conditions including pH, sorbent amount and contact time have been established. Langmuir isotherm model was found to be more suitable to represent the experimental equilibrium than Freundlich isotherm model. The experimental kinetic data were a better fit with pseudo-second order reactions rather than pseudo-first order equation. The sorbent selectively removed Pb(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) ions in the presence of several competitor ions (? 98%). The application of the sorbent for the removal of Pb(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) ions from ultrapure and river waters gave applicable results (> 90%) with high accuracy and precision. Thus, natural magnetite was found to be useful for the removal of these metal ions and its low toxicity, good biocompatibility, small size and being inexpensive makes it a good promising candidate material for water treatment studies.