Study of 63Ni(II) sorption on CMC-bound bentonite from aqueous solutions

Bentonite was investigated to remove Ni(II) from aqueous solutions because of its strong sorption ability. Herein, bentonite was modified with sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and used as an adsorbent to remove Ni(II) from aqueous solutions. The results indicated that CMC-bentonite had higher sorption capacity than bare bentonite in the sorption of Ni(II) from aqueous solutions. Sorption of Ni(II) on CMC-bentonite was mainly dominated by ion exchange or outer-sphere surface complexation at low pH values, but by inner-sphere surface complexation or surface precipitation at high pH values. The thermodynamic data calculated from temperature dependent sorption isotherms indicated that the sorption of Ni(II) to CMC-bentonite hybrids was an spontaneous process and enhanced with increasing temperature.