Mechanism investigation and surface complexation modeling of zinc sorption on aluminum hydroxide in adsorption/coprecipitation processes

• Zn(II) removal by adsorption and coprecipitation with Al(OH)3 was studied.
• Zn(II) removal mechanism was mainly surface complexation.
• Surface precipitation of Zn–Al LDH partly occurred by coprecipitation.
• Quantitative DLM model was constructed for Zn(II) removal with Al(OH)3.

The sorption mechanism of dilute Zn [initial Zn(II) concentration up to 40 mg dm−3] on aluminum hydroxide was investigated. Adsorption and coprecipitation at pH 7 were compared. The adsorption process gave a Langmuir-type isotherm and the zeta potential of Zn(II)-adsorbed aluminum hydroxide decreased linearly with increasing sorption density of Zn on aluminum hydroxide. The adsorption mechanism is therefore mainly surface complexation. In contrast, in the coprecipitation process, a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller like isotherm was obtained; the slope of the zeta potential versus Zn(II) sorption density decreased when the initial Zn/Al molar ratio was greater than 0.5. The X-ray diffraction pattern of Zn(II)-coprecipitated aluminum hydroxide changed from that of poorly crystalline gibbsite to a Zn–Al layered double-hydroxide (LDH) when the initial Zn/Al molar ratio was greater than 0.5, showing that surface complexation was the main sorption mechanism, but surface precipitation of Zn–Al LDH was also involved when the initial Zn/Al molar ratio in the coprecipitation process was greater than 0.5. A quantitative diffuse-layer model was constructed. The aluminum hydroxide exchange capacity was set at 0.61 mol mol-Al−1, based on the experimentally determined surface area, 340 m2 g−1. Surface complexation coefficients for H+, OH−, and Zn(II) adsorption on aluminum hydroxide were determined by fitting to the experimental adsorption results. The obtained parameters were in excellent agreement with those previously reported for a database of gibbsite adsorption equilibrium constants. The pH edge for Zn(II) removal by aluminum hydroxide was successfully reproduced by the constructed model.