Effective Removal of Ammonia from Water Using Pre-treated Clinoptilolite Zeolite-A Detailed Study

Ammonia in the form of ammonium ions is malignant and could reduce the dissolved oxygen in water bodies and significantly threaten aquatic life. The ammonium ion is the major pollutant in water generated from industrial waste, pesticides, and fertilizers. Natural clinoptilolite is a promising adsorbent for eliminating ammonia from aquatic resources. This research aims to evaluate the efficiency of ca-form natural clinoptilolite zeolite in ammonia removal conditioned by simple washing and drying process. The effects of appropriate parameters, such as contact time, pH, zeolite dosage, and initial ammonia concentration, were investigated in the batch study. Clinoptilolite's surface morphology, functional groups, and structure were studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The particle size and surface charge were determined using clinoptilolite's zeta potential. The surface area of the material was analyzed using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) plot and found to be 8.469 m(2)/g. Results show that the removal efficiency of clinoptilolite zeolite in ammonia ions at batch study is 76.48%. The adsorption kinetics and isotherms are best described by the pseudo-second-order and Freundlich models, respectively, and the process was endothermic.