DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, vol.52, pp.3226-3236, 2014 (SCI-Expanded)
Rosa canina seeds (RCS) is considered as a low-cost and promising adsorbent in removal of metal ions; hence, in the present study, we aimed to test the adsorptive removal of Cu(II) ions from aqueous solutions by utilizing RCS in a batch process. After characterization of RCS by using several techniques, the effects of various experimental parameters such as initial pH of aqueous solution, contact time, initial Cu(II) concentration, RCS concentration, temperature, and electrolyte concentration were studied upon the adsorption process. The desorption conditions of Cu(II) ions from the loaded RCS were also evaluated. Maximum Cu(II) adsorption was found to occur at pH 6.0 and the equilibrium was established after 60 min of contact time. The adsorption isotherms were described by means of Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin Radushkevich models. The adsorption kinetics were analyzed using pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich and intraparticle diffusion models and the adsorption data were well described by the pseudo-second-order model. Thermodynamic parameters such as the Gibbs free energy (Delta G), enthalpy (Delta H), and entropy (Delta S) changes were also evaluated and it has been found that the adsorption process was feasible, spontaneous, and endothermic in the temperature range of 278-313 K.