Modification of Ion Exchange Resin for Enhanced Removal of Nickel (II) Ions from Aqueous Environment

In this study, the removal of nickel (II) ions using a strong acid cation resin was investigated
though a fixed bed column technique. The aim of this study was to enhance the performance of
the resin through modification. The resin was modified employing the impregnation method. A
characterization analysis was conducted to investigate the resin after the modification with
comparison to the original one. The equilibrium behavior of the modified resin was investigated
at different pH values (3-7) and different initial concentrations of nickel (1.8, 2.8 and 3.8 g/L).
The effect of regeneration on the modified resin was determined to show that the regeneration
did not affect on the equilibrium performance. The removal efficiency and rate of removal were represented on breakthrough curves. The kinetics of the process was determined; Thomas model was used to express and evaluate the experimental data which showed a high correlation. The
results suggest a better performance of the modified resin compared to the original one which can significantly enhance the actual application of ion exchange process.