Removal and recovery of Hg(II) from aqueous solution using chitosan-coated cotton fibers.

Two types of chitosan-coated cotton fibers (SCCH and RCCH) were applied to remove and recover Hg(II) ions in aqueous solution. The adsorption kinetics and isotherms of the two fibers for Hg(II) were investigated at different temperatures. The results revealed that the adsorption kinetic processes of SCCH and RCCH fibers for Hg(II) followed the pseudo second-order model at lower temperatures and the pseudo first-order model at higher temperatures. Both the Langmuir and Freundlich models well described the adsorption isotherms of SCCH and RCCH fibers for Hg(II) in the temperature range studied. SCCH and RCCH fibers selectively adsorbed Hg(II) from binary ion systems in the presence of Pb(II), Cu(II), Ni(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), Co(II), Mn(II) and Ag(I). Increased temperature was beneficial to adsorption. The recovery of Hg(II) from aqueous solutions was also studied as a function of sample flow rate and volume, concentration and volume of eluent, elution rate, quantity of adsorbents added and concomitant ions. The results showed that the two fibers efficiently enriched and recovered Hg(II) in the presence of alkali and alkaline earth metals and some heavy metals under optimum conditions. The RCCH fiber exhibited better stability than the SCCH fiber following repeated use.