Physico-chemical effects of ion-exchange fibers on electrokinetic transportation of metal ions

• Physicochemical characterization of ion exchange textiles for the retention of heavy metals.
• Evaluation of transport number of Zn and Pb in ion exchange textiles.
• Use of textiles to retain metals in the electrokinetic treatment of effluents.

Ion-exchange textiles can be used in electroremediation of heavy metal contaminated liquid effluents. In this work, the behavior of FIBAN ion-exchange textiles was tested for the transportation of two heavy metals: lead and zinc, under the effect of a constant direct electric current. Detailed characterization of fibers has been carried out in order to determine the effect of their structure on the retention of heavy metal during their electrokinetic transport. Ion-exchange fibers structure was studied by electronic scan microscopy, X-ray fluorescence, spectrogammametric analysis and Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy/Attenuated Total Reflectance. Hittorf method was used to determine the transport number of Pb2+ and Zn2+ during the electrokinetic treatment.