Ammonium sorption by Gِrdes clinoptilolite rich mineral specimen

Experimental and theoretical works were performed for the estimation of the effects of pH, initial concentration, agitation speed, particle size and temperature on the ammonium sorption by local clinoptilolite rich mineral specimen. The kinetic sorption data were analyzed using external mass transfer, intraparticle diffusion, pseudo first and second order kinetic models. Diffusion model results revealed that external film diffusion dominated at the very early stages of sorption process and then it was overcome by intraparticle diffusion. Pseudo-second order kinetic model correlated with the experimental data better than the pseudo first order kinetic model. Sorption isotherm model results indicated that the Langmuir isotherm fitted well to the experimental data. Thermodynamic parameters Gibbs energy change (ΔG), enthalpy change (ΔH) and entropy change (ΔS) were calculated. It was shown that the sorption process was exothermic and spontaneous. The value of the activation energy suggested that ammonium sorption by the clinoptilolite rich mineral specimen is likely due to physical interactions between the sorbent and the sorbate. Analysis of the cation exchange results revealed that ion exchange mechanism was not the only step which was effective in ammonium sorption.