Superabsorbents and Their Application for Heavy Metal Ion Removal in the Presence of EDDS

Three acrylic-based superabsorbents—TerraHydrogel(®)Aqua (THA), Zeba(®)Hydrogel (ZH) and Agro(®)Hydrogel (AH) were used to investigate the influence of chemical conditions on kinetic and adsorption behavior towards metal ions in the presence of a chelating agent of a new generation called ethylenediamine-N,N′-disuccinic acid (EDDS). The effects of relevant parameters—mainly including those of sorbent dose, pH of the solution and initial concentration of Cu(II), Zn(II), Mn(II) and Fe(III) complexes with EDDS as well as phase contact time and temperature—on the adsorption efficiency were studied in detail by the static method. The experimental data were also characterized by kinetic and adsorption parameters obtained based on the Langmuir and Freundlich models of sorption as well as the Lagergren, Ho and McKay and Weber–Morris models.