Author's Name:	Marie Anne Etoh, Charles Melea Kede, Pierre G Tchiéta, Daniel J David Dina & S Boh-Lere
Subject Area:	Science and Engineering
Subject	Chemical Engineering
Section	Research Paper

Adsorption; Kinetic; Equilibrium; Clays; Nitrates ions.

The adsorption kinetics of NO3- ions from aqueous solution onto clay fractionated from Nkongsamba (Cameroon) soil based on particle size (=53µm) has been investigated. Spectroscopic studies including FTIR, elemental analysis (EA), XRPD, and SEM were used for its characterization. Batch studies were carried out to investigate the effect of contact time and initial concentrations of NO3- ions on kinetics adsorption. Kinetic studies showed a rapid adsorption during the first thirty minutes. Application of pseudo first order, pseudo second order and intraparticle diffusion model equations showed that the experimental results are well expressed by pseudo second order kinetic equation. Maximum adsorption capacity, calculated from well fitted Langmuir equation, is 29.585mg/g. Verification of intra-particle diffusion model showed that intra-particle diffusion could be one of the rate determining steps but pseudo second order mechanism is predominant. Overall adsorption process appears to be controlled by more than one step.