Mahin Rasouli - Department of Environmental Science, Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran
Saeid Azizian - Department of Environmental Science, Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran

Heavy metal ions in the aqueous solutions have been a human concern because of the increased industrial waste, toxic and other harmful effects on the human environment. Unfortunately, most of the heavy metal ions are persistent, irresolvable and bio-toxic. In this work removal of copper and zinc ions from aqueous solution using grape bark modified with egg shell as a low-cost and biocompatible adsorbent was investigated. The prepared adsorbent was used for removal of zinc and copper ions and the effects of different parameters such as initial concentration and time on the adsorption efficiency was studied too. Calcium solution derived from egg shells was used to modify grape bark, therefore both precursors are biocompatible materials. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) methods were used for characterization of the prepared adsorbent. The equilibrium data have been fitted to Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The kinetic experimental data were fitted to pseudo first-order and pseudo second-order kinetic models. The obtained results indicate that grape bark modified with egg shell is a suitable adsorbent for removal of copper and zinc ions from aqueous solution because of high adsorption capacity and biocompatibility.

Copper, Zinc, Adsorption, Grape Bark, Egg Shell