Adsorption of chromium and copper in aqueous solutions using tea residu

In this study, adsorption of copper and chromium was investigated by residue of brewed tea (Tea Waste) from aqueous solutions at various values of pH. It was shown that adsorbent dose, copper and chromium ion concentrations in such solutions influence the degree of these heavy metal ions' obviation. The adsorption level of the prepared solutions was measured by visible spectrophotometer. The tea residue adsorbed copper (II) and chromium (VI) ions at initial solution pH by 25 % and 3 %, respectively. During the experiments the peak adsorption occured in hydrated copper nitrate aqueous solution at pH range of 5-6. Likewise the maximum adsorption appeared in potassium chromate aqueous solution at pH range of 2-3. In addition, tea residue adsorbed about 60 mg/g of copper (II) ion at pH=5, while chromium adsorption was registered at about 19 mg/g at pH=2. The data obtained at the equilibrium state, was compared with Langmuir and Freundlich models. Results showed that regarding the kinetics of adsorption, the uptake of copper (II) and chromium (VI) ions by tea residue was comparatively faster, with the adsorption process exhaustion completed within the first 20 min of the experiments. Furthermore, results revealed that adsorption data concerning the kinetic phase is closely correlated with a pseudo-second order model with R2 > 0.99 for copper (II) and chromium (VI) ion