Adsorption of phosphate from aqueous solution onto alunite

The phosphate removal potential of alunite, a low cost and abundantly available material, has been investigated. The effects of calcination temperature and time of alunite, adsorbent particle size, pH and initial phosphate concentration on the phosphate adsorption by the calcined alunite have been studied. Phosphate removal was seen to increase with increasing calcination temperature, decreasing adsorbent particle size and pH. Adsorption of phosphate followed first-order rate kinetics. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm constants and correlation coefficients were calculated and compared. It was concluded that the adsorption data of phosphate onto calcined alunite fitted to the Langmuir model more than Freundlich model. Specific surface areas of the calcined alunite were calculated at different calcination temperatures and particle sizes.