Recovery of Cd(II) and Zn(II) from HCl medium using cellulose acetate sponges modified with Cyanex 923

In this work, it was studied the recovery of cadmium(II) and zinc(II) from hydrochloric acid solutions by cellulose acetate sponges modified with Cyanex 923 (R) in batch system. Modified sponges (MS) were obtained from a recycled cellulosic man-made material (cigarette butts) that represent a major environmental contamination problem worldwide. MS were characterized using different techniques such as scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Some effective parameters on adsorption and recovery of both metals, such as the amount of Cyanex 923 in the test solution, mass of sponges, adsorption time, acidic chloride medium in adsorption, and recovery phase have been evaluated. Adsorption isotherms (Freundlich equation) gave a satisfactory fit of the equilibrium data with a best sorption of 8.90 and 45.43 mg g(-1) for Cd(II) and Zn(II), respectively. The desorption of both metals occurred with 0.25 mol L-1 of HNO3. The proposed method was evaluated with a polluted water from an urban reservoir (dam) doped with heavy metals that are present in hydrometallurgy wastewater.