Plate-like potassium magnesium titanate (KMTO) powder prepared by molten salt growth method and the KMTO porous ceramic synthesised by polymeric sponge replication method were used as sorbents to remove nickel ions from wastewater. Both powder and porous ceramic were characterised by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The maximum adsorption capacities of powder and porous ceramic were 96 and 24 mg g− 1 respectively at a pH value of 6 (25°C). However, the removal efficiencies of both could reach up to 99%. Moreover, the adsorption kinetics for the KMTO powder and the porous ceramics followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the equilibrium data for the KMTO powder fitted the Langmuir isothermal model well, while the porous ceramics fitted with the Freundlich model. The mechanism of the adsorption by the KMTO powder and the porous ceramic was ion exchange. It was also shown that the nickel saturated KMTO powder and the porous ceramics were stable in leaching tests.
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