Study of the Equilibrium, Kinetics, and Thermodynamics of Boron Removal from Waters with Commercial Magnesium Oxide

In the present work, the equilibrium, thermodynamics, and kinetics of boron removal from aqueous solutions by the adsorption on commercial magnesium oxide powder were studied in a batch reactor. The adsorption efficiency of boron removal increases with temperature from 25°C to 50°C. The experimental results were fitted to the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin–Radushkevich (DR) adsorption isotherm models. The Freundlich model provided the best fitting, and the maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of MgO was 36.11 mg·g−1. In addition, experimental kinetic data interpretations were attempted for the pseudo-first-order kinetic model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The results show that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model provides the best fit. Such result suggests that the adsorption process seems to occur in two stages due to the two straight slopes obtained through the application of the pseudo-first-order kinetic model, which is confirmed by the adjustment of the results to the pseudo-second-order model. The calculated activation energy (Ea) was 45.5 kJ·mol−1, and the values calculated for ∆G°, ∆H°, and ∆S° were −4.16 kJ·mol−1, 21.7 kJ·mol−1, and 87.3 kJ·mol−1, respectively. These values confirm the spontaneous and endothermic nature of the adsorption process and indicated that the disorder increased at the solid-liquid interface. The results indicate that the controlling step of boron adsorption process on MgO is of a physical nature