Efficient removal of Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution by modified red mud

In the work, we employed a hydrothermal method for modification of red mud using colloidal silica and sodium hydroxide under mild conditions, and applied it into adsorbing Pb(II) ions in aqueous solutions. In the modification, zeolite structure was formed. The adsorption experiments found that the adsorption capacity of the modified red mud for Pb(II) ions was significantly improved, almost 10 times as much as that of the original red mud. Both the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic equation can describe the adsorption process, indicating it a more complicated interaction. Langmuir and Dubinin–Radushkevich models well fit the adsorption isotherm, indicating that the modified red mud mainly removes lead ions from aqueous solution by monolayer physical adsorption. According to the fitting results, the saturated adsorption capacity of Pb (II) by the modified red mud is 551.11 mg/g, confirming its high efficiency adsorption performance. XRD, FTIR, XPS and SEM-EDS all detected the formation of PbCO3 and Pb3(CO3)2(OH)2. It was speculated that the adsorption mechanism should be attributed to the joint contribution of ion exchange and precipitation. The excellent performance of the modified red mud on Pb(II) ions adsorption makes it a promising candidate for the treatment of wastewater contaminated by heavy metal ions.