Adsorpative Removal of Hg (II) Cations from Aqueou Solution by Traganum Nudatum Roots

Abstract—The adsorption of Hg(II) cations onto the surface Traganum nudatum roots has been found to be of initial pH, adsorption time and biosorbent dose. The pH 5 is found to be the optimum for the removal of Hg(II) cations from aqueous solution. Three kinetic models such as first-order, pseudo-second order and intra-particle diffusion were used to analyze the Hg(II) cations adsorption process, and the obtained results showed that the pseudo-second-order with correlation coefficient greater than 0.9800 was more suitable than first-order. The obtained results also explained that the intra-particle diffusion is mainly one of the mean determining step of the adsorption mechanism of Hg(II) cations on Traganum nudatum roots