Adsorption of Mercury(II) Ion in Aqueous Solution by Using Bentonite-Based Monolith

The removal of mercury from the waterbody remains a severe challenge in ensuring environmental safety due to its highly toxic and non-biodegradable properties. Adsorption is an evidently effective method for heavy metal removal in water. This research aims to study the mercury (II) ion adsorption behavior in aqueous solution onto extruded natural bentonite in monolithic structure, bentonite-based monolith (BBM) adsorbent. BBM was characterized by XRD, BET, and SEM, the results verify BBM could improve adsorption performance assumed on its structure. Adsorption efficiency, isotherm model, and adsorption kinetic were investigated. Experiments were performed in a lab-scale batch reactor with mercury solution concentration varied from 1 to 5 mg/L. The maximum adsorption efficiency discovered to be 63,9%. The experimental data fitted well to Langmuir isotherm (non-linear) and kinetic model pseudo first order (non-linear), revealing the maximum monolayer capacity (Qo) of BBM to be 0,187 mg/g with Langmuir constants KL and aL are 0,215 L/g dan 1,151 L/mg respectively. These value confirms that BBM adsorbent encompasses tremendous potential for mercury (II) ion removal in a solution.