
Rev. Téc. Ing. Univ. Zulia. Vol. 42, No. 1, 2019, Enero-Abril, pp. 03-47
11Cu (II) Chemisorption on Calcined Substrates made with an Oxidic Refractory
Introduction 
 
 Transitional metal adsorption in variable charge 
soils have been well studied by several authors [1, 2] but 
has not been treated for the case of calcined substrates 
prepared with oxidic refractory lithological materials. In 
both cases the Fe and Al, as well as Mn and Ti amphoteric 
oxides are the most important source of variable charge; 
these amphoteric surfaces can be either protonated or 
deprotonated by acid or alkaline treatment to create 
positive or negative charges on the oxides surfaces, leading 
to cation and anion adsorption reactions respectively, 
according to equation (1) [3].
 
(1)
  The literature also suggest a mechanism for 
which the adsorption of transitional metals on these 
kind of surfaces, through the formation of a covalent 
bond between the metal ion and the oxidic surface, called 
chemisorption, according to equation (2) where M could 
be any transitional metal.
               (2) 
  Such kind of reaction modifies the surface 
charge through more positive values, which allows 
anion adsorption, and produces acidification through the 
formation of H3O+ ion. This process is defined as specific 
adsorption or chemisorption, which has the tendency to 
be irreversibility. In previous publications [4, 5] copper 
adsorptions on calcined substrates prepared with some 
of these refractory lithologic materials which have surface 
variable charges were described. This physicochemical 
characteristic is due to the presence of amphoteric oxides 
in the material, such as Fe, Al, Mn and Ti, previously 
described in the literature [6, 7]. As a consequence of these 
particular properties, these lithological materials are 
versatile for preparing calcined adsorbing substrates and 
their applications in water treatment. Furthermore, due 
to their capacity for anion/cation exchange, heavy metals, 
oxyanions and organic matter are removed by adsorption 
processes. In previous publications the application to 
water softening [8], cation adsorption reactions [4], anion 
adsorption reactions [9, 10] and water treatment [11] 
have been described. The objective of this paper is to 
complement the information presented by the previous 
articles with new findings which support the hypothesis 
of the chemisorption of cupper ions on the oxidic surface 
of these calcined substrates, in order to continue working 
on this project. Moreover, according to the theoretic 
model described above, H3O+ ion must be one of the 
reaction products, producing acidification in the solution. 
Therefore, by following up the pH evolution during the 
adsorption reaction it should show this acidification 
process.
Experimental Section
 
lithologic material have been described in the literature 
[7]. Being an arid zone, the soils are classified as aridisols 
[12], presenting serious limitations for agronomical uses. 
However, some of these lithological materials are used by 
potters for making kitchen hardware and constructions 
materials like bricks and crockery using thermal treatment 
due to its refractory properties. Calcined subtrates were 
prepare according to the procedure described in the 
literature [4 - 6], so by using the granulometric fraction 
between 425 – 250 mm for the determination of the 
zero charge point, the pH and the electrical conductivity 
      
the BET technique using isothermal N2 adsorption. The 
procedure for the deprotonation reaction of the calcined 
substrate (substrate activation) is also described in the 
same literature were the substrate is chemically treated 
excess of alkali is wash out with distillate water until 
it reaches pH 7, and later it dries in a furnace at 120oC. 
The determination of Point of Zero Charge (PZC) of raw 
the material, (RM), calcined non-activated (NAS) and 
activated substrates (AS) was performed according to 
the method described by the literature [13, 14]. The pH 
was measured at different ionic strength against pH in 
aqueous extract and pH0 was recorded on a graphic of  
pH against pHH2O which gives de pHo at the intersection 
of  pHH2O axe. The adsorption study was performed by 
triplicate, in isothermal conditions at 20 ± 2 oC for 24 h, 
using batch equilibration procedure by treating 2 g of 
calcined substrate with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 40 mL of 
0.001 M Cu+2, in closed vessels. Then the Cu+2 equilibrium 
concentration were determined by the complexometric 
titration at pH 10 with a 0.001 M EDTA standard solution 
and NET as metalochromic indicator. Thus, adsorption 
isotherms were obtained by plotting the amount of copper 
adsorbed (mmol g-1 substrate) against the equilibrium 
Langmuir equation [15-17]. The pH and the EC variations 
were measured using the same batch equilibration 
procedure, in triplicate samples, by treating 2 g of raw 
material, activated and non-activated calcined substrate, 
with increasing volume of 0.001 M, 0.01 M and 0.1 M of