Effect of Adsorbate Concentration to Adsorbent Dosage Ratio on the Sorption of Heavy Metals on Soils

Abstract

Adsorbent dosage and initial adsorbate concentration are usually used as two factors for a batch sorption experiment to investigate the sorption characteristics of heavy metals on soils. In the present study, another factor was defined as the ratio between initial adsorbate concentration and adsorbent dosage, and its relation with the sorption characteristics of heavy metals on soils was analyzed by performing a series of batch sorption experiments and literature review. The results indicated that the sorption capacity increased with the increase in the initial adsorbate concentration to adsorbent dosage ratio, and the effects of adsorbent dosage and initial adsorbate concentration could be uniformly illustrated by the effect of the ratio. Based on the experimental results and literature analysis, an empirical equation was developed to describe the relationship between sorption capacity and initial adsorbate concentration to adsorbent dosage ratio at equilibrium. The sorption characteristics of heavy metals on soil could be directly predicted with the developed empirical equation.