Sorption of copper and nickel by spent animal bones

Animal bone is able to adsorb copper and nickel ions from their single aqueous solutions. It was noted that a decrease in the sorbent concentration with constant copper or nickel concentration, or an increase in the copper or nickel concentration with a constant sorbent concentration resulted in a higher metal loading per unit weight of the sorbent. Increase in the initial pH of the metal solution resulted in an increase in the metals uptake per unit weight of the sorbent. Freundlich isotherm model was found to be applicable for the experimental data of Cu²⁺ and Ni²⁺. The results showed that animals bones can be used for the adsorption of the Cu²⁺ and Ni²⁺ with higher affinity toward Cu²⁺ ions. The new sorbent was able to decrease copper concentration to a limit lower than the limit permitted by the environmental regulations.