Adsorptive Removal of Nickel Ions from Aqueous Solutions Using Fe₃O₄ Under Varying Experimental Conditions

Chuah, Sueh Qiang (2025) Adsorptive Removal of Nickel Ions from Aqueous Solutions Using Fe₃O₄ Under Varying Experimental Conditions. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

This study discusses the adsorption effectiveness of iron oxide (Fe3O4) for the removal of nickel (II) ions from synthetic aqueous solutions and was evaluated using a Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS). The adsorption test of adsorbent dosage, pH value, zeta potential, contact time and initial concentration of nickel (II) solution was done to determine the optimal conditions for maximum nickel ion removal. The adsorption process was determined and analysed using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models to further understand the adsorption process and characteristics of the Fe3O4. It was found that 2 g dosage of Fe3O4 yielded the most optimal removal efficiency using 100 ppm initial nickel (II) concentration with the optimal pH of 7 and optimal contact time of 90 minutes. Moreover, the adsorption kinetics was determined to be pseudo-second-order with the R2 of 0.9996 with the pseudo-second-order kinetic graph. Furthermore, the adsorption of nickel (II) ions was found to adhere with both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models with an R2 value of around 0.935, 0.9347 and 0.9352 respectively, for both of the isotherm models. Thus, the results show that Fe3O4 have the ability to removal nickel (II) ions, potentially able to be used as the main adsorbent without other additional substances. This study can then be treated as a benchmark for comparison of other Fe3O4 composites with similar parameters.