Pyrophillite “Parsovići” – Efficient Material in Heavy Metal Removal

Abstract

The present work explored the effectiveness of Parsovići pyrophyllite ore as sorbent material for heavy metals such as Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd and Ni from aqueous solution. The analysis of chemical composition of PIR samples revealed the presence of silica and alumina besides Ca bearing phase; along with FTIR analysis which confirmed presence of hydroxyl groups attached to Si or Al, the composition of the ore sample indicates that this sample might be a prospective source for the effective metal sorbent. The preliminary batch sorption studies supported this hypothesis, indicating that the PIR sample poses highest affinity (mmol/g) in single ion solution towards Pb, followed by Zn, Cu, Ni and Cd. In multi metal solution the sorption of Zn was lowest. The sorption capacity under described operational conditions for Pb (single metal solution) was 47.25 mg/g.