Abstract
The aim of this study is to improve the performance of zeolite-A as an adsorbent material using cellulose acetate (CA) addition as a support membrane, for Ni2+ ions adsorption. The membrane is called as Cellulose Acetate/Zeolite-A (CA/ZA) membrane, which was prepared by a phase inversion-immersion method. The CA/ZA membrane was prepared in 12.5 wt% CA at various ZA loading of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 wt%. The CA membrane with 3 wt% zeolite-A addition has the best performance with flux of 366.9 L.m 2h 1 at 2 bar of pressure and has 73.46 % porosity. The best CA/ZA membrane was used for Ni2+ adsorption at various pH of metal ion solution. It was found that the optimum pH condition for Ni2+ adsorption was 10, which can adsorb Ni2+ ion up to 66.11% with an adsorption capacity of 0.26 mg.cm-2. SEM-EDX characterization showed that Ni2+ ion was distributed in the CA/ZA membrane. FTIR spectra showed no new peak on the used membrane for adsorption, indicating the physical adsorption between Ni2+ ion and the membrane.
