Removal of Cu(II) from CuSO4 Aqueous Solution by Mg‐Al Hydrotalcite‐like Compounds

Hydrotalcite‐like compound (HTlc) with a Mg/Al molar ratio of 2:1 was synthesized by using a coprecipitation method and the sorption removal of Cu(II) by the Mg‐Al HTlc sample from CuSO₄ solution was investigated. It was found that the Mg‐Al HTlc showed a good sorption ability for Cu(II) from CuSO₄ solution, indicating that the use of hydrotalcite‐like compounds as promising inorganic sorbents for the removal of heavy metal ions from water is possible. The sorption kinetics and the sorption isotherm of Cu(II) on the HTlc obeyed the pseudo‐second order kinetic model and Langmuir equation, respectively. The percent removal of Cu(II) by the HTlc was strongly dependent on the initial pH of bulk solution. It increased sharply with the increase of initial pH value in the range of 5–7, and was relatively small in the initial pH range of 4–5, while it reached about 100% after initial pH was higher than 7. The presence of AlCl₃ might obviously lower the equilibrium sorption amount (q_e) of Cu(II) on the HTlc. However, the presences of NaCl and MgCl₂ might increase the q_e. The presences of ligands (citric acid and EDTA) in the studied concentration range might obviously decrease the q_e of Cu(II) on the HTlc. The removal mechanism of Cu(II) cations by HTlc in the presence of SO₄^2? anions may be attributed to the surface‐induced precipitation of Cu(II) hydroxides and the surface complex adsorption by the linking effect of SO₄^2? between the HTlc and Cu(II) cations, and the removal ability arising from the surface‐induced precipitation is much higher than that from the linking effect of SO₄^2?.