Kinetics and Equilibrium Studies for the Removal of Cobalt, Manganese, and Silver in Ethanol using Dowex 50W-x8 Cation Exchange Resin

Organic solvents such as ethanol, find a wide range of applications in fuel, pharmaceutical industries, food industries, and paint formulations, among others. The removal of Ag(I), Co(II), and Mn(II) ions in ethanol by cation exchange resin, Dowex 50W-x8, was investigated. The adsorption characteristics of metal ions onto Dowex 50W-x8 resin were described by Langmuir isotherms. The maximum sorption exchange capacities at 298 K were obtained as 47.4 mg g^-1, 52.6 mg g^-1, and 58.5 mg g^-1 for Ag(I), Co(II), and Mn(II), respectively. The data was also fitted to Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption isotherm models to evaluate other adsorption properties. The ion exchange of silver, cobalt, and manganese on cation exchange resin followed pseudo-second-order kinetics, and the intraparticle diffusion was rate-determining step. The thermodynamic parameters indicated that the sorption of metal ions onto Dowex 50W-x8 resin was spontaneous (negative ΔG°) and endothermic in nature (positive ΔH°) implying that the adsorption capacity increased with increasing temperature. The resin can be regenerated by eluting metal ions with 3.0 mol L^-1 HNO₃ followed by washing it with 10 mL of Millipore water and 10 mL of 2.0 M NaOH, respectively. The proposed method was applied for metal ion removal in real ethanol samples.