Separation and Recovery Process of Copper (II) and Nickel (II) from Wastewater Using Ion Exchange Fiber

Abstract In this paper, the parameters affecting the adsorption of Cu II and Ni II by PAN‐NHx fiber and PAN‐COONa fiber were discussed firstly, such as initial ion concentration, pH, and temperature. Secondly, influence factors toward the separation of Cu II and Ni II by PAN‐NHx fiber were systematically evaluated by single‐column experiments. The results showed that the PAN‐NHx fiber had good separation of Cu II and Ni II ; Ni II accounts for more than 99.00 % of total metal ion content in the initial 1000 mL effluent, while Cu II is less than 1 %. With the changed from C Cu II : C Ni II =90 %:10 % to 95 %:5 %, the ratio of C Cu II : C Ni II in the treated effluent changed from 6 %: 94 % to 2 %: 98 % (fed flow rate: 0.42 BV min −1 ). The adsorption capacity of PAN‐NHx adsorption column was well maintained after six cycles. Finally, based on the above laboratory results, a multi‐column process was designed to separate and recover Cu II and Ni II from wastewater.