Colloids and Surfaces

A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects 177 (2001) 169 181

www.elsevier.nl/locate/colsurfa

Kinetics of mercury adsorption from wastewater using

activated carbon derived from fertilizer waste
Dines Mohan a, V.K. Gupta b, S.K. Srivastava b, S. Chander a,*
a
Department of Energy and Geo-En6ironmental Engineering, The Pennsyl6ania State Uni6ersity, Uni6ersity Park, PA 16802, USA
b
Chemistry Department, Uni6ersity of Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, U.P., India

Abstract

The waste slurry generated in a fertilizer plant was converted into a carbonaceous material and used as an
adsorbent for the uptake of Hg (II) from wastewater. The kinetics of adsorption depends on the adsorbate
concentration, and the physical and chemical characteristics of the adsorbent. Studies were conducted to delineate the
effect of pH, temperature, initial absorbate concentration, particle size of the adsorbent and solid to liquid ratio. The
adsorption of Hg (II) increased with the decrease in pH and the process was exothermic. On the basis of these studies,
various parameters such as mass transfer coefficient, effective diffusion coefficient, activation energy and entropy of
activation were evaluated to establish the mechanisms. It was concluded that the adsorption occurs through a film
diffusion mechanism at low concentrations, and particle diffusion at higher concentrations. 2001 Elsevier Science
B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Adsorption; Activated carbon; Carbonaceous material; Solid waste utilization; Mercury removal; Wastewater treatment

1. Introduction sumer of mercury and the single largest source of

Heavy metals are toxic to aquatic flora and
fauna even in relatively low concentrations. Some
of these are capable of being assimilated, stored,
and concentrated by organisms. Mercury is a
commonly occurring toxic metal in natural
ecosystems. It is used in a wide variety of indus-
tries such as electrical, paints, fungicides, chlor-al-
kali, paper and pulp, pharmaceuticals, etc. Out of
these, the chlor-alkali industry is the largest con-
* Corresponding author.
mercury pollution.
Mercury and its related compounds are toxic
when ingested in living organisms. A special char-
acteristic of mercury is its strong attraction to
biological tissues and in general the slow elimina-
tion from the biological system. The health haz-
ards due to the toxic effect of mercury at
Minamata, Japan and Iraq are very well known
[1]. The toxicological effects of mercury depend
upon the type of mercury compound, the amount
ingested and the mode of entry into the body. It is
carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic and pro-
motes tyrosinemia. It also causes blindness, men-
tal and emotional deterioration, involuntary
mobilization, loss of consciousness, etc.

0927-7757/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 7 - 7 7 5 7 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 6 6 9 - 5
170 D. Mohan et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 177 (2001) 169181
Though it is desirable to have zero mercury
levels in effluents, it is practically impossible to
accomplish this. The World Health Organization
(WHO) recommends a maximum uptake of 0.3
mg week 1 and 1 mg l 1 as the maximum accept-
able concentration in drinking water [2]. A num-
ber of approaches have been suggested for the
removal of mercury from aqueous solutions. The
techniques include reduction, precipitation, ion
exchange, reverse osmosis, adsorption, coagula-
tion, etc. Among these, selective adsorption utiliz-
ing biological materials, mineral oxides, carbon,
or polymer resins, has generated much interest
among researchers and practitioners of environ-
mental engineering and science. Activated carbons
are found to be very effective for the removal of
mercury [3 8]. However, despite its effectiveness,
activated carbon is expensive to use. Recognizing
the economic drawback of activated carbon,
many investigators have studied the feasibility of
less expensive materials such as waste rubber tire
[912], fly ash [13,14], coal [15,16], carbon fibers
[17], activated charcoal cloth [18], rice husk [19],
saw dust [20], clays [21,22], wood [23], peat [24],
human hairs [25], soil [26], binata bark [27], moss
[28], starch xanthate [29], and chitosan beads [30]
for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater.
For an excellent review, the reader is referred to
an article by Pollard et al. [31].
The objective of this study was to develop an
industrially viable, cost effective, and environmen-
tally compatible technology for the removal of Hg
(II) from wastewater. For this purpose, studies
were performed to convert the waste slurry from a
fertilizer plant into an inexpensive carbonaceous
adsorbent. Some studies for the removal of metal
ions and phenols from such adsorbents have al-
ready been reported [34,35]. Nitrogen-based fertil-
izer plants often generate waste slurry due to
partial combustion of liquid fuel. The costs for
disposal of the slurry could be significantly high.
In this investigation, the adsorbent prepared from
a fertilizer plant waste slurry was used to remove
Hg (II). Equilibrium and kinetic studies were con-
ducted. To enhance the sorption efficiency of the
absorbent, studies were also performed on an
adsorbent that was treated with a sulfurizing
agent, namely, CS2.
2. Materials and methods
All reagents were of AR grade chemicals. Stock
solutions of the test reagents were made by dis-
solving mercuric nitrate in doubly distilled water.
Radioisotope used for the studies (203Hg) was
obtained from the Board of Radiation and Iso-
tope Technology, Bombay, India.
2.1. Equipment
The pH measurements were made using a pH
meter (Model CT No.CL46, Toshniwal India). A
gamma scintillation counter (ECIL, India) was
used for work with the radioisotope. X-ray mea-
surements were done using a Phillips X-ray Dif-
fractometer employing nickel-filtered Cu-Ka
radiation. The surface area was measured by
Model QS-7 Quantasorb Surface Area Analyzer.
Porosity and density of the adsorbent were deter-
mined by mercury porosimetery and by specific
gravity bottles, respectively. The constituents of
carbon were analyzed following the routine meth-
ods of chemical analysis.
2.2. Adsorbent
The raw material, a waste product from Na-
tional Fertilizer Limited, Bhatinda, India, was in
the form of small, spherical, black, greasy gran-
ules. This plant has a production capacity of 900
MTPD of liquid ammonia. At 100% load the
plant produces waste slurry at the rate of 60 T
h 1 of carbonaceous material and must be dis-
posed of. A sample of the waste slurry was con-
verted into an adsorbent by treating it with
hydrogen peroxide to oxidize the adhering organic
material and then heated to 200C in air until the
emission of black soot stopped. The heated
product was cooled and activated in air. The
activation was performed by heating the sample
for 1 h in a muffle furnace at 450C in the
presence of air. The temperature and time were
optimized by observing the surface properties of
carbon obtained by activating the raw material
for different intervals of time and at varying
temperatures.
 D. Mohan et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 177 (2001) 169181
The material was then treated with 1.0 M HCl
solution to remove the ash content and then
washed with distilled water. It was dried at 100C
for 24 h and sieved before use. Adsorption tests
were performed on 150 200 mesh particles (un-
less stated otherwise). Finally, the product was
stored in a vacuum desiccator until required. The
detailed procedure was reported earlier [34,35].
To characterize the adsorbent, a 1-g sample of
the material was stirred with 100 ml of deionized
water at a pH of 6.8 for 2 h and left for 24 h in
an air-tight stoppered conical flask. A lowering of
pH was observed. As a result the carbon may be
considered as L-carbon in nature [34,35]. The
surface area of the sample as determined by BET
method was 629 m2 g 1. The X-ray diffraction
spectrum pattern of the sample did not show any
peak, thereby indicating the amorphous nature of
the product. The chemical analysis of the product
gave carbon, aluminum, and iron contents as 92,
0.45 and 0.6%, respectively. The loss on ignition
was 7%. The amounts of silica and ash were
negligibly small. The density and porosity of the
sample as determined by the standard methods
were found to be 1.30 g cm 3 and 78%,
respectively.
Fig. 1. Effect of concentration on the rate of uptake of Hg (II) by activated carbon at temperature 27C, particle size 150 200 mesh,
adsorbent dose 1.0 g l 1, and pH 2.0.
171
2.3. Sorption procedure
Batch studies were performed to obtain the
data on the rate and extent of sorption. For
isotherm studies, a series of 50-ml test tubes
were employed. Each test tube was filled with 10
ml of metal ion solution of varying
concentrations (10 3 10 2 M) and adjusted to
the desired pH and temperature. A known
amount of carbon was added into each test tube
and agitated intermittently for the desired time
periods, up to a maximum of about 24 h. The
contact time and other conditions were selected
on the basis of preliminary experiments that
demonstrated that the equilibrium was
established in 68 h as can be seen from the
results in Fig. 1. Equilibration, for longer times,
that is between 10 and 24 h gave practically the
same uptake. Therefore the contact period was
24 h in all equilibrium tests. The metal
concentration retained in the adsorbent phase
was calculated by using Eq. (1).
(Co Ce)V
qe = (1)
W
172 D. Mohan et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 177 (2001) 169181
Fig. 2. Effect of pH on the adsorption of Hg (II).
where Co and Ce are the initial and equilibrium
concentrations of metal ion in solution, V is the
volume and W is the weight of the adsorbent.
2.4. CS2 -treated adsorbent
To improve the adsorption of mercuric ions the
activated carbon was treated with a sulfurizing
agent, namely, CS2. A sample of the 150200-
mesh activated carbon was presoaked in CS2 for a
period of 24 h. The adsorption studies were per-
formed according to the procedure described in
the previous section.
2.5. Kinetic studies
Batch tests were performed to determine kinet-
ics of adsorption. For this purpose, 50-ml Pyrex
glass tubes were prepared with the desired
amounts of reagent solution and were placed in a
thermostat-cum-shaking assembly. When the de-
sired temperature was reached, a known amount
of carbon (0.01 g) was added into each tube and
the solutions were agitated by mechanical shak-
ing. At pre-decided intervals of time, the solutions
of the specified tubes were separated from the
adsorbent and analyzed to determine the uptake
of Hg (II).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Sorption studies
The uptake of Hg (II) as a function of hydro-
gen ion concentration was determined in the pH
range of 26. At pH values below 2, hydrogen
ions are likely to compete with mercuric ions and
at pH values above 6.5 mercuric ions might pre-
cipitate. The results are presented in Fig. 2. The
maximum adsorption was observed at pH 2.0. In
general the results indicated that the adsorption is
highly pH dependent. Similar results have been
reported in previous studies [14,34].
The isotherms for adsorption of the mercuric
ions at pH 2.0 are presented in Fig. 3 for three
different temperatures. At low concentrations the
isotherms were linear whereas they take the char-
acteristic Langmuir shapes at higher concentra-
tions. It is postulated that a change in the
mechanism occurs with increase in concentration.
In a subsequent section, the mechanism of ad-
sorption is discussed in more detail. The
isotherms are positive, regular and concave to the
concentration axis. The uptake of Hg (II) de-
creased with the increase in temperature, thereby
indicating the process to be exothermic. It may be
 D. Mohan et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 177 (2001) 169181
physical in nature because this type of adsorption
is normally favored at low temperatures and usu-
ally occurs as a result of van der Waals forces
between the adsorbent and adsorbate. In such a
case the adsorbed molecule is not fixed to a
specific site at the surface but is free to undergo
translational motion at the interface.
The data for adsorption of Hg (II) on activated
carbon were fitted to Freundlich and Langmuir
Isotherms. The linear forms of Freundlich and
Langmuir models are represented by Eqs. (2) and
(3):
1
log qe = log KF + log Ce (2)
n
Ce 1 1
= + C (3)
qe Q0 b Q0 e
where qe is the amount of solute adsorbed per unit
weight of adsorbate (mol g 1), KF, 1/n and b are
characteristic constants, Ce is the equilibrium con-
centration or concentration in bulk fluid phase
(mol l 1) and Q 0 is the solid phase concentration
corresponding to complete coverage of available
adsorption sites. The value of KF has been used as
a relative measure of adsorption capacity, 1/n and
Fig. 3. Effect of temperature on isotherms for adsorption of Hg (II) on activated carbon at pH 2.0; adsorbent dose 1.0 g l 1 and
particle size 150200 mesh.
173
b are related to enthalpy and intensity of adsorp-
tion. Figs. 4 and 5 show the applicability of both
models over a wide range of concentrations. Fre-
undlich and Langmuir Parameters are given in
Table 1. The correlation coefficients showed that
in general, the Langmuir model fitted the results
slightly better than the Freundlich model. The
Freundlich model fitted the data significantly bet-
ter when a change in the mechanism of adsorption
with concentration was considered. The heavy
solid lines through the data points with a change
in slope at a concentration of 3.5 10 3 M cor-
roborate such a hypothesis. Thermodynamic
parameters, namely, free energy (DG), enthalphy
(DH) and entropy (DS o) changes were also calcu-
lated using Eqs. (4)(6) and are given in Table 2.
The reference state was defined based on adsorp-
tion density in mol g 1 of adsorbent and concen-
tration in mol l 1.
DG 0 = RT ln K (4)
T2T1 K
DH= R ln 2 (5)
T2 T1 K1
DHDG
DS= (6)
T
174 D. Mohan et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 177 (2001) 169181

Fig. 4. Langmuir plots of Hg (II) at different temperatures.

Fig. 5. Freundlich plots of Hg (II) at different temperatures: 27C;

45C;  65C.

where K, K1 and K2 are the Langmuir constants ity of the process and spontaneous nature of
corresponding to temperatures at 27, 45 and adsorption. Negative values of DH o indicate the
65C. A negative DG value confirms the feasibil- exothermic nature of the process while the nega-
 D. Mohan et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 177 (2001) 169181 175

tive DS corresponds to a decrease in the degree of carbon [36]. An increase in the uptake of Hg
of freedom of the adsorbed species. (II) was observed with the adsorbent presoaked
Several sulfurizing agents have been tried by in carbon disulfide as can be seen from the re-
different investigators to enhance the efficiency sults in Fig. 6. The maximum uptake of Hg (II)

Table 1
Freundlich and Langmuir constants for Hg (II) adsorption on activated carbon at different temperatures (pH 2.0)

Temperature (C) Freundlich Parameters Langmuir Parameters

KF103 1/n R2 Q103 b103 R2

27 142.7 0.71 0.9232 3.62 1.04 0.9927

45 66.3 0.75 0.9423 1.85 0.554 0.9903
65 10.73 1.38 0.9552 0.361 0.361 0.9896

Table 2
Thermodynamic parameters for the uptake of Hg (II) on activated carbon calculated under standard conditions

Temperature (C) DG (kJ mol1) DH o (kJ mol1) DS o (kJ mol1 k1)

27 17.34 23.62 20.48

45 16.69
65 16.54

Fig. 6. Adsorption isotherms of Hg (II) on treated and untreated carbon at a temperature of 27C, adsorbent dose 1.0 g l 1 and
particle size 150200 mesh.
176 D. Mohan et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 177 (2001) 169181

Fig. 7. Effect of particle size on the rate of uptake of Hg (II) by activated carbon at a temperature of 27C, adsorbent dose 1.0 g
l 1, pH 2.0 and [Hg2 + ] =1 10 2 M.

Fig. 8. Lagergren plots for the adsorption of Hg (II) at different temperatures on activated carbon at particle size 150 200 mesh,
adsorbent dose 1.0 g l 1, pH 2, and [Hg2 + ] = 1.010 2 M.

on the treated carbon was found to be 3.2. Kinetic studies

3.9810 3 mol g 1 in comparison to
1.78 10 3 mol g 1 for the untreated carbon. The effects of particle size on the uptake of Hg
These results are in agreement with the (II) is shown in Fig. 7, which indicates that pore
observations made by Humenick and Schnoor [8]. diffusion is important. The rate of the removal of
 D. Mohan et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 177 (2001) 169181 177

Table 3 to be comparable to the value obtained for Ni (II)

Mass transfer coefficient (bL) and rate constant of adsorption
on China clay (1.02 10 2 min 1) [38] suggest-
of Hg (II) for activated carbon
ing that the mechanisms of adsorption are similar.
Temperatures (C) bL (cm s1) Kad (min1) The mass transfer analysis of Hg (II) during the
process was studied by using the diffusion equa-
27 1.82105 1.02102

 
tion [39]:
45 0.61105 1.49102
65 0.55105 1.84102 Ct 1 mk 1+ m k
ln = ln bL Sst
Co 1+m k 1+ m k mk
Hg (II) increased with decrease in particle size, (8)
and mercuric ion concentration as was shown in where Ct is the concentration of adsorbate after
Fig. 1. It also decreased with increase in tempera- time t (mol l 1); Co is the initial concentration
ture. The data are shown as Lagergren plots in of adsorbate, (mol l 1); k is the Langmuir con-
Fig. 8 to facilitate the analysis. The Lagergren stant obtained by multiplying adsorption capacity
first order rate equation [32,37] is written as: Q 0 and the energy parameter b; bL is the mass
Kad transfer coefficient, cm s 1; and m is the mass of
log(qe qt)= log qe t (7) adsorbent per unit volume of particle free adsor-
2.303
bate solution (g l 1). It is given by
A plot of log (qe qt) versus t gives a straight W
line as can be seen in Fig. 8, confirming the m= (9)
V
applicability of first order rate expression of
Ss is the outer surface of the adsorbent per unit
Lagergren. The adsorption parameter, Kad was
volume of particle free slurry (cm 1) and is calcu-
calculated from the slope of the plot at different
lated as:
temperatures and the values are presented in
Table 3. The parameter Kad increases with tem- 6m
Ss = (10)
perature as expected. Its value at 27C was found (1 op)dp rp

Fig. 9. Plots of ln(Ct/C0 1/1+ mk) vs. time for the mass transfer of Hg (II) on activated carbon at different temperatures on
activated carbon at particle size 150200 mesh, adsorbent dose 1.0 g l 1, pH 2, and [Hg2 + ]= 1.0 10 2 M.
178 D. Mohan et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 177 (2001) 169181
where, dp is the particle diameter (cm); rp is the
density of adsorbent (g cm 1); and op is the
porosity of adsorbent particles. The values of
mass transfer coefficient (bL) were determined
from the slopes and the intercepts of the straight
line plots in Fig. 9. The linear nature of the plots
confirms the validity of the diffusional model for
the Hg (II) carbon system. Also, the results in
Table 3 indicate that the mass transfer of Hg (II)
is more important at lower temperatures. Srivas-
tava et al. [32] and Singh et al. [40] obtained
similar results for Fe (II) adsorption on
wollastonite.
Usually, external transport is the rate-limiting
step in systems, which have: (a) poor mixing; (b)
dilute concentration of adsorbate; (c) small parti-
cle size; and (d) high affinity of adsorbate for
adsorbent. In contrast, the intraparticle step limits
the overall transfer for those systems that have:
(a) high concentration of adsorbate; (b) good
mixing; (c) large particle size of adsorbent; and (d)
low affinity of adsorbate for adsorbent.
Kinetic data was analyzed by the procedure
given by Reichenberg [42] and Helfferich [43]. The
following equations were used:
F=1
6  1 Di t p 2 n 2
%
n (11)
In order to interpret the experimental data, it is p 2n = 1 n 2 r 20
necessary to identify the step that governs the or
overall removal rate in the adsorption process.
The mathematical treatment of Boyd et al. [41]
and Reichenberg [42] to distinguish between the
particle, and film diffusion and mass action con-
trolled mechanism of exchange have laid the foun-
dations of sorption/ion exchange kinetics.
The three consecutive steps in the adsorption of
an organic/inorganic species by a porous adsor-
bent are:
1. transport of the adsorbate to the external sur-
face of the adsorbent (film diffusion);
2. transport of the adsorbate within the pores of
the adsorbent except for a small amount of
adsorption that occurs on the external surface
(particle diffusion); and
3. adsorption of the adsorbate on the exterior
surface of the adsorbent.
It is generally accepted that the process (iii) is
very rapid and does not represent the rate-deter-
mining step in the uptake of organic/inorganic
compounds [43]. For the remaining two steps in
the overall transport, three distinct cases occur:
case I: external transport\ internal transport;
case II: external transportBinternal transport;
and
case III: external transport: internal transport.
In cases I and II the rate is governed by film
and particle diffusion, respectively. In case III, the
transport of ions to the boundary may not be
possible at a significant rate, thereby, leading to
the formation of a liquid film with a concentra-
tion gradient surrounding the sorbent particles.
6  1
F= 1 % exp [ n 2 Bt] (12)
p 2n = 1n 2
where F is the fractional attainment of equi-
librium at time t and is obtained by the
expression
Qt
F= (13)
Q0
where Qt is the amount of adsorbate taken up at
time t and Q 0 is the maximum equilibrium up-
take and
p 2 Di
B= = time constant (14)
r 20
where Di is the effective diffusion coefficient of
ion in the adsorbent phase; r0 is the radius of the
adsorbent particle, assumed to be spherical; and n
is an integer that defines the infinite series
solution.
Bt values were obtained for each observed
value of F, from Reichenbergs table [42] and the
results are plotted in Fig. 10. The linearity test of
Bt versus time plots was employed to distinguish
between the film diffusion and particle diffusion
controlled adsorption. If the plot of Bt versus
time (having slope B) is a straight line passing
through the origin, then the adsorption rate is
governed by particle diffusion mechanism other-
wise it is governed by film diffusion. At low Hg
(II) concentrations (B5 10 3 M) the Bt versus
time plots do not pass through the origin, indicat-
 D. Mohan et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 177 (2001) 169181 179

Fig. 10. Bt vs. time plots at different adsorbate concentration of Hg (II) on activated carbon.

Table 4
Thermodynamic parameters of activation

Effective diffusion coefficient, Di (m2 s1) 37C; 4.541010 45C; 5.691010 65C; 6.841010
Pre-exponential factor (D0) (m2 s1) 1.61108
Energy of activation (Ea) (kJ mol1) 8.9
Entropy of activation (S c ) (JK1 mol1) 46.32

ing the rate controlling step to be the film diffu- entropy of activation DS c , and pre-exponential
sion. At higher concentrations (] 5 10 3 M), factor (D0) analogous to the Arrhenius frequency
the plots were linear and pass through the origin factor were also evaluated using Eqs. (15) and


indicating the particle diffusion mechanism to be (16).
the rate limiting step.
These findings were further substantiated by Di = D0 exp
Ea n (15)
RT
 n
McKay plots at different adsorbate concentra-
tions (plots are omitted for brevity). McKay plots kT DS c
[5] at lower concentrations were linear, indicating D0 = 2.72 d 2 exp (16)
h R
a purely film diffusion process. There were non-
linear plots at higher concentrations (]5 10 3 where, k is the Boltzmann constant; h is the
M) justifying the assumption that particle diffu- Planck constant; R is the gas constant; d is the
sion as the rate-limiting step. distance between two active sites of the adsorbent
The effective diffusion coefficients at 27, 45, which is conventionally taken as 5 A, in inorganic
and 65C are given in Table 4 and Fig. 11. They ion exchangers, minerals and other adsorbents
were estimated from the slopes of the Bt plots similar to carbon. The values of Ea, D0, and DS c
using Eq. (14). The increased mobility of ions and for the diffusion of Hg2 + in activated carbon are
a decrease in retarding forces acting on the diffus- also given in Table 4. The negative DS c values
ing ion results in the increase of Di with the obtained for the adsorption of Hg (II) on acti-
temperature. The energy of activation Ea, the vated carbon reflect that no significant change
180 D. Mohan et al. / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 177 (2001) 169181
Fig. 11. Log Di vs. 1/T plots for Hg (II) adsorption on activated carbon.
occurs in the internal structure of adsorbent
material during adsorption. The negative DS c
values are not uncommon in ion-exchange
processes. Rawat et al. [44,45], Varshney et al. [46],
and Srivastava et al. [32,33,47] have also reported
negative DS c values.
4. Conclusions
A waste slurry sample from a fertilizer plant
was converted into a carbonaceous adsorbent and
used for the removal of aqueous mercury from
wastewater. Adsorption of mercuric ions in-
creased with decrease in temperature and solution
pH. Both the Freundlich and Langmuir models
could be used to fit the data and estimate model
parameters. The fit was slightly better for the
Langmuir model. The analysis of the kinetics data
showed that the uptake of mercuric ions was
controlled by film diffusion at low concentrations
and intra-particle diffusion at higher concentra-
tions. Various thermodynamic and kinetic
parameters were evaluated.
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