Combination of ultrasound and discarded tire rubber: removal of Cr(III) from aqueous solution

Ground discarded tire rubber is an interesting and inexpensive medium for the sorption of toxic metals, including chromium, from water. The batch sorption tests were conducted to investigate the sorption capacity of Cr(III) from aqueous solution by ground tire in the presence and absence of ultrasound. The research parameters included ultrasonic waves, solution temperature, aqueous chromium concentration, particle size of the ground tire, contact time, and others. The Langmuir model was applied to the sorption equilibrium to determine the maximum metal sorption capacity in the presence and absence of ultrasound. The Langmuir constants were also obtained from the isotherms under different conditions. The results indicated that the tire rubber was a more efficient sorbent for the removal of chromium in the presence of ultrasound. Because there are several stages in the sorption process, it is important to find out which step or steps control the rate of sorption. According to the results, the internal porous diffusion is the rate-controlling step. The diffusion coefficient of Cr(III) in ground tire rubber in the presence of ultrasound was about two times greater than that in the absence of ultrasound. The effect of ultrasound on the sorption process could be explained by the thermal and nonthermal properties of acoustic cavitation.