Removal of inorganic mercury from aqueous solutions by carbonized waste newsprint fiber

The ability of carbonized waste newsprint fiber to remove Hg(II) from aqueo us solutions by physicochemical adsorption was investigated. Defiberized wa ste newsprint was carbonized in a nitrogen atmosphere at temperatures rangi ng 600 to 900 degreesC for 3 h. Research parameters included carbonization temperature, initial solution pH. contact time, solution temperature, and i nitial concentration of Hg(II). The studies showed the adsorbents to be an efficient adsorbent for removing Hg(II) from aqueous solutions. Of the para meters studied, carbonization temperature and initial solution pH were cons idered to be the most crucial. The amount of Hg(II) adsorbed onto the adsor bent increased with increasing carbonization temperature in the pH range 3 to 9, while it decreased as the temperature increased at pH 11. The extent of the adsorption was also dependent upon the contact time, solution temper ature, and initial concentration of Hg(II). The adsorption data were well f itted to both the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms, Desorption studies imp ly the occurrence of strong interaction of the Hg(II) species with the acti ve sites on the surface of the adsorbent.