Use of porous volcanic rocks for the adsorptive removal of copper

Low-cost adsorbents, pumice (VPum) and scoria (VSco) were investigated for the removal of Cu(II) as function of various parameters. Batch experiments were conducted to evaluate the influence of Cd(II) and Ni(II) on the adsorptive removal of Cu(II) from aqueous solutions. Kinetic data showed a trend of fast removal at initial stages, thereby achieving maximum adsorption after 1 h agitation. The adsorption process well explained by pseudo-second-order kinetics for both adsorbents. Adsorption capacity were found 1.432 and 1.015 mg/g using VPum and VSco, respectively. This work showed the promising nature of pumice and scoria to effectively remove copper from water.