Study of the adsorption and electroadsorption process of Cu (II) ions within thermally and chemically modified activated carbon

Samples of three activated carbons were used. These were a commercial activated carbon, commercial activated carbon modified thermically (C-N2-900) and finally commercial activated carbon modified chemically C-SO2-H2S-200. The activated carbons were characterized chemically and texturally and the electrical conductivity of them determined. Different kinetic models were applied. The kinetics of the adsorption and electroadsorption process of the Cu (II) ion fits a pseudo second order model and the most likely mechanism takes place in two stages. A first step through transfer of the metal mass through the boundary layer of the adsorbent and distribution of the Cu (II) on the external surface of the activated carbon and a second step that represents intraparticle diffusion and joining of the Cu (II) with the active centres of the activated carbon. Finally, the kinetics of the adsorption process are faster than the kinetics of the electroadsorption but the percentage of the Cu (II) ion retained is much higher in the electroadsorption process.