Current World Environment

Partial carbonized nanoporous resin (PCNR-150), based on organic xerogel compounds, was prepared at 150 ºC by sol–gel method from pyrogallol and formaldehyde mixtures in water using perchloric acid as catalyst.  The PCNR-150 was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nitrogen porosimetry. The metal uptake characteristics were explored using well-established and effective parameters including pH, contact time, initial metal ion concentration, and temperature. Optimum adsorptions of Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺, using PCNR-150 as adsorbent, were observed at pH 5 and 7, respectively. Langmuir model gave a better fit than the other models, and kinetic studies revealed that the adsorption is fast and its data are well fitted by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and thermodynamic properties, i.e., ΔG^o, ΔH^o, and ΔS^o, showed that adsorption of Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ onto PCNR-150 was endothermic, spontaneous and feasible in the temperature range of 300–328 K.