| Abstrakt: |
In the present study, a simplest and most effective method was applied to removal of Cu2+ ions from an aqueous solution using Montmorillonite clay, nontoxic and abundantly available as an adsorbent. The used adsorbent was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), the X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with EDX analysis. Adsorption experiments were conducted under various conditions, i.e., contact time, initial concentration, pH of Cu(II) ions solution, adsorbent mass, and particle size. The results proved that the adsorption of Cu(II) ions by Montmorillonite clay was favorable at pH=5.5 with an extraction yield of 85% after 30 min contact. The equilibrium isotherm data were analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich equations. In all cases, the adsorption process fitted the second-order kinetics well, and the isotherm equation due to Freundlich showed good fits with the experimental data. In order to value our Cu-Montmorillonite clay (Cu-MC) support, we thought of applying it as recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for the condensation of Knoevenagel. The model reaction was carried out at room temperature, using a quantity of 0.5 mg of catalyst and a volume of 2ml of ethanol, the reaction yield was excellent (87%). The recyclable solid catalyst was effective for five successive cycles, indicating that this clay is a potentially eco-friendly heterogeneous catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
