Cationic resin polymer A®IRC-50 as an effective adsorbent for the removal of Cr(III), Cu(II), and Ag(I) from aqueous solutions: A kinetic, mathematical, thermodynamic and modeling study

Adsorption has emerged as a reliable and cost-effective method for the depollution of wastewater containing multivalent heavy metals. However, there is still a need to optimize the process to achieve better efficacy. Consequently, This study focuses on the adsorption of three different metal ions, namely Cr (III), Cu (II), and Ag (I), using a cationic resin polymer called A®IRC-50 as the organic adsorbent. The high adsorption capacity of this polymeric material was investigated concerning various physicochemical parameters, including the dose of the cationic adsorbent, contact time, initial pH of the metallic solution, concentration of multivalent metals, and temperature (from 25 ◦C to 55 ◦C). The characterization of the adsorbent was performed using GTA/GTD, SEM spectroscopy, and EDX analysis. The kinetics of the adsorption phenomenally were evaluated exploited pseudo- 1st-order and pseudo-2sec-order models. The maximum amount of adsorption of the different metals studied are estimated at 171.33 mg..