OLIVINE-BASED SORBENTS FOR REMOVAL OF HEAVY METALS

Abstract

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ISP-MS) and scanning electron microscope-X-ray fluorescence (SEM-XRF) methods were used for the investigation of olivine sorption properties. It has been shown, that olivine may be applied as a cheap and available material for the sorption of metals, including heavy metals, from wastewater. The comparatively low sorption capacity of olivine may pay off by its accessibility and cheapness. The mechanism of adsorption on the olivine surface may be described as the substitution of magnesium ions by cations of various metals. One trend can be fixed – when ionic radius of the metal cations increases, their sorption increases as well. However, it is hardly possible to tie everything with the ionic radius of metal ion. The specificity of each element is also important.