title: Determination of optimal peat type to potentially capture copper and cadmium from solution.
abstract: The focus of this study was to determine the optimum type of peat for application as a medium to capture dissolved metals from aqueous solution. Seventeen media were examined, including eleven Irish peat samples from various locations and stages in processing, a Northern Ireland lignite, peat and lignite chars, a commercial-grade bone char, and two commercial-grade granular activated carbons. Considerable variation in sorption capacity was found with a ratio of 20:1 between the best-performing (bone char) and the poorest-performing (peat char) samples. Among the 14 varieties of peat, the best-performing sample outperformed the commonly investigated sphagnum moss by a ratio of 4:1. A correlation has been established between cation exchange capacity, the presence of adsorbed calcium, and the uptake capacity of different peats. This correlation will be a valuable tool in choosing peat type for filter media for metals removal applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, 35487-0205, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Allen
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002104:Cadmium / Q000737:chemistry*; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D005374:Filtration; D012987:Soil; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D002104:Cadmium; D003300:Copper