The effect of environmental acidity on copper (II) ions desorption from natural sorbents

The task of creating functional sorption materials based on natural raw materials capable of protecting human health and quality of life from heavy metal pollution through environmental protection is an urgent interdisciplinary problem. Copper (II) ions were studied as objects of research – the main pollutant of the territories adjacent to the flooded copper mines of the Ural region (Degtyarsky, Levikhinsky, etc.), and common sorbents of natural origin – neutralized peat in granular and non-granular form, as well as diatomite and vermiculite. The influence of the acidity of the medium on the effectiveness of immobilization of copper (II) ions by selected sorbents is considered. At the first stage of the research, heavy metal ions were bound from an aqueous solution with a concentration equal to 10 maximum permissible concentrations of copper (II) ions in the soil. Then, after filtration and drying, the sorbents were placed in an aqueous medium with an initial pH value of 2, 4, 7, 8. An acidic medium was created by adding nitric acid to distilled water, an alkaline medium by adding sodium hydroxide. The presence of desorption of copper (II) ions in the case of non-granular peat, as well as diatomite and vermiculite in a solution with a strongly acidic medium at pH = 2 has been established. At pH = 4, 7, 8, desorption has not been established within the error of the spectrophotometry method used to determine the concentration of copper (II) ions in mobile form. Based on the research results, a composite sorbent – meliorant based on natural components with the addition of calcium oxide is proposed to reduce the acidity of the medium and suppress the desorption of bound heavy metal ions.

Apakashev R. A., Malyshev A. N., Lebzin M. S., Kurmacheva V. S., Gordeeva Yu. F. The effect of environmental acidity on copper (II) ions desorption from natural sorbents. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2024;(12-1):22-33. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_ 1493_2024_121_0_22.

The research was funded as part of the implementation of the federal program for strategic academic leadership «Priority 2030» (Ural State Mining University).

R.A. Apakashev¹, Dr. Sci. (Chem.), Professor, e-mail: Apakashev.R@m.ursmu.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9006-3667,
A.N. Malyshev¹, Research Engineer, e-mail: malyshev.k1b@ gmail.com, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3104-1687,
M.S. Lebzin¹, Junior Researcher, e-mail: az_ma@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5959-135X,
V.S. Kurmacheva¹, Laboratory Assistant-Researcher, e-mail: verakurmacheva55@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0009-0005-5925-021X
Yu.F. Gordeeva¹, Head of Laboratory, e-mail: julia100990@inbox.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7184-6586,
¹ Ural State Mining University, 620144, Ekaterinburg, Russia.

A.N. Malyshev, e-mail: malyshev.k1b@gmail.com.

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