Particle concentration effect in adsorption/desorption of Zn(II) on anatase type nano TiO2

Adsorption/desorption in a new Zn(II)-TiO2 adsorption system was investigated at different particle concentrations (Cp). TEM, SEM and XRD analyses revealed that the TiO2 particles were an aggregation of nano-sized (approximately 10 nm) pure anatase-type TiO2. Adsorption experiments were carried out with particle concentrations of 100, 400 and 1000 mg/L, and their adsorption isotherms were found to decline successively, showing an obvious Cp effect. Desorption experiments indicated that adsorption in this system was irreversible, and the irreversibility increased with increasing Cp. These phenomena could be explained by the MEA (metastable equilibrium adsorption) theory and the Cp effect could be modeled well with an MEA-Freundlich-type Cp effect isotherm equation. This study may help understand environmental behavior of contaminants on ultrafine natural particles.