• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.209-220
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• 2004

Adsorption behavior of Cu onto Hwangto, from Pankok-ri, Kosung-gun, suspension was studied using Cu batch adsorftion experiment and computer program MINTEQA2 and FITEQL 3.2. The sorption of copper was investigated as a function of pH, copper concentration and $NaNO_3$ background concentration (0.01 and 0.1 M). The concentration of copper was analyzed using ICP-AES. The sorption of copper onto Hwangto suspension increased with increasing pH and copper concentration. The adsorption percentage of copper drastically increased from pH 5.5 to 6.5, and reached nearly 100% at pH 7.5. Because the amount of copper solution and the ionic strength of background electrolyte may not affect the sorption of copper onto Hwangto, the copper ion may be combined at the surface of Hwangto as an inner-sphere complex. Using the MINTEQA2 program, the speciation of copper was calculated as a function of pH and copper concentration. The concentration of $Cu^{2+}$ decreased and that of $Cu(OH)_2$ increased with increasing pH. The uptake of copper in the Hwangto suspension was simulated by FITEQL3.2 program using two sites-three pKas model, which is composed of silicate reaction site and Fe oxide reaction site. The copper absorption reaction constants were calculated in the case of 2～6 mL of copper solution. The Fe oxide reaction site rapidly adsorbs copper ion between pH 4.5～6.5. Silicate reaction site adsorbs little copper ion at low copper concentration but much at high copper concentration. The removal amount of copper by precipitation was negligible in comparison with that of adsorption. The Fe oxide reaction site may has higher adsorption affinity of copper ion than silicate reaction site.