Heavy metals removal from solution by polyaniline/palygorskite composite

Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to remove heavy metal ions such as Cu (II), Ni (II), Cd (II), and Cr (VI) from single‐metal solutions using a polyaniline/palygorskite (PP) composite. Different parameters affecting the adsorption capacity such as contact time and pH of the solution have been investigated. The structural characteristics of the PP composite were studied in this work. Atomic absorption spectroscopy was used for the measurement of heavy metal contents, and the adsorption capacity (q_e) calculated were 114 mg Cu (II) g^?1, 84 mg Ni (II) g^?1, 56 mg Cd (II) g^?1, and 198 mg Cr (VI) g^?1 under optimal conditions. The removal of the metal ions from solutions was assigned to chelation, ionic exchange, and electrostatic attraction. Data from this study proved that the novel organic/inorganic composite presents great potential in the recovery and elimination of noble or heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011.