Abstract: The absorption mechanism of a novel separation absorbent containing sulfhydryl group has been studied in terms of thermodynamics and kinetics. The results indicate that the adsorbent is able to absorb heavy metal ions:Cu²⁺,Pb²⁺,Cd²⁺, and Zn²⁺. The predominant process of the adsorption is a chemical adsorption. The amount of the adsorption on the outer and internal surface of the adsorbent is 19% and 81% for Cu²⁺;6% and 94% for Pb²⁺; 17% and 83% for Zn²⁺, respectively; while the adsorption of Cd²⁺ is controlled only by internal diffusion. For Cd²⁺ only an outer surface adsorption was observed. The XPS results show that Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Zn²⁺ are adsorbed and thus enriched by the novel separation adsorbent. The Cu²⁺ adsorbed may be then reduced to Cu^o.

Key words: sulfhydryl-containing active carbon adsorbent, heavy metal ion, adsorption mechanism