An adsorption study of Al(III) ions onto chitosan.

The adsorption of Al(III) from aqueous solutions onto chitosan was studied in a batch system. The isotherms and the kinetics of adsorption with respect to the initial Al(III) concentration and temperature were investigated. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models were applied to describe the experimental isotherms. Equilibrium data fitted very well to the Langmuir model in the entire concentration range (5-40 mg/L). The negative values of free energy (DeltaG degrees ) and enthalpy (DeltaH degrees ) for the adsorption of Al(III) onto chitosan indicated that the adsorption process is a spontaneous and exothermic one. Two simplified kinetic models, based on pseudo first-order and pseudo second-order equations, were tested to describe the adsorption mechanism. The pseudo second-order kinetic model resulted in an activation energy of 56.4 kJ/mol. It is suggested that the overall rate of Al(III) ion adsorption is likely to be controlled by the chemical process. The values of the enthalpy (DeltaH(#)) and entropy (DeltaS(#)) of activation were 53.7 kJ/mol and -164.4 J/molK, respectively. The free energy of activation (DeltaG(#)) at 30 degrees C was 103.5 kJ/mol.

Univariate and simplex optimization for the flow-injection spectrophotometric determination of copper using nitroso-R salt as a complexing agent.

A simple colorimetric flow-injection system for the determination of Cu(II) based on a complexation reaction with nitroso-R salt is described. The chemical and FIA variables were established using the univariate and simplex methods. A small volume of Cu(II) was mixed with merged streams of nitroso-R salt and acetate buffer solutions. The absorbance of the complex was continuously monitored at 492 nm. The calibration curve over the concentration range 1.0-7.0 microg ml(-1) was obtained. The relative standard deviation for determining 4.0 microg ml(-1) Cu(II) was 0.47% (n = 11). The detection limit (3sigma) was 0.68 microg ml(-1) and the sample throughput was 150 h(-1). The validity of the method has been satisfactorily examined for the determination of Cu(II) in wastewater and copper ore samples. The accuracy was found to be high, because the student t-values were calculated to be less than the theoretical values when the results were compared with those obtained by FAAS.