Removal of Lead and Zinc Ions from Aqueous Solutions Using Naphthalene Modified with Malononitrile Derivative

Removal of Pb(II) and Zn(II) ions from aqueous solutions using naphthalene modified with 2-(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzylidene) malononitrile(TMBM) as synthetic adsorbent was investigated. It was characterized by FT-IR. Batch method was applied for testing of adsorption behavior. Adsorption experiments showed, the new sorbent has high selectivity and good adsorption for removal of lead and zinc ions from aqueous solutions. Equilibration time was 5 min for zinc and 15 min for lead. There was little effect of salt on removal of the ions. The maximum adsorption capacities for Pb(II) and Zn(II) were 88.5 and 38.9 mg g-1, respectively. The thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption was spontaneous, exothermic and endothermic process for lead and zinc, respectively.