Smectite sample from the Serra de Maicuru area (Pará state, northern Brazil, Amazon region) were used for the pillaring process with Al13. Aluminum pillared clay (Al-PILC) was characterized by XRD, SEM and EDS. the textural analysis using nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. The aim of this paper is to study in how Al-PILC adsorb heavy metals. The adsorption of Cu2+, Ni2+, Co2+ ions from aqueous solution in room temperature by Al-PILC have been carried out. The Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin adsorption isotherm models have been applied to fit the experimental data, with the first model well adjusted with r = 0.999. The one-surface Langmuir equation provided the best fit to the data. The Freundlich equation presented limitations in rises concentrations, but acceptable values of parameters were obtained (Kf and n) with the use of the three models. The parameters were used to calculate the amount adsorbed Nf, a function constant Cs.
adsorption isotherms; heavy metals; Al-pillared clay
