Adsorption of humic substances by macro weakly basic ion-exchange resin and their effects on removal of Cu2+ and Pb2+

Adsorption of humic, tannic and gallic acids by a macro weakly basic ion-exchange resin JN-01 was studied. The adsorption capacity of this resin for gallic and tannic acids is much higher than that for humic acid, which can be explained on the basis of both their molecular size and ionization degree. Furthermore, humic acid is separated into different components with molecular weight in the range from 2000 Da to 100000 Da by ultra-filter, and their adsorption isotherms on resin JN-01 indicate that humic acid’s molecular weight is an important factor which makes significant influence on adsorption. Finally, changes in the amount of Cu2+ and Pb2+ adsorbed on resin JN-01 as a function of the concentration of each of these three acids were studied. A large increase in the heavy metal ions uptake is observed in the presence of humic substance, such advantages are due to the interactions between the heavy metal ions and the unbound functional groups of the adsorbed organic acids.