Evaluating the Effectiveness of Low‐Silica X and Copper‐Modified Low‐Silica X Zeolite Adsorbents for Cyanide Ions Removal From Aqueous Solutions

Environmental issues about treating wastewater that contains cyanide with adsorption technology have grown, necessitating the development of a reliable yet easy technique. Due to its outstanding surface qualities, low‐silica X (LSX) zeolite, produced from Al 2 O 3 and SiO 2 using the hydrothermal reactor method, was utilized as an effective adsorbent for eliminating cyanide ions (CN − ) from aqueous solutions. In this study, copper was utilized to enhance the adsorption properties of LSX zeolite through modification. The effectiveness of each zeolite was then compared. The impact of factors such as the initial cyanide concentration (ICC) (10–50 ppm), pH (5–11), adsorbent dosage (AD) (0.2–1.0 g), temperature (25°C–65°C), and contact time (30–70 min) was examined by batch tests. The effect and relationship between these characteristics were adjusted by utilizing the software Design‐Expert 11 Version and the design of central composite design (CCD). The outcomes from this research clearly show that the percentage of CN − removed improved with amassed pH, AD, ICC, and contact time, up to certain thresholds. The best conditions for maximal CN − elimination were discovered as pH 7.5, ICC 45 ppm, AD 0.55 g, and contact period 45 min. Hence, at the optimum parameters, the observed CN − removal percentage by copper‐modified LSX (Cu‐LSX) zeolite was 96.55%, which is significantly higher than that of the unmodified LSX zeolite 93.90%. For evaluating the equilibrium adsorption isotherm data, the study utilized the Temkin, Freundlich, and Langmuir isotherm models. The findings indicated that adsorption isotherm equilibrium data aligned most closely with the Langmuir ( R 2 = 0.9975) and the Freundlich ( R 2 = 0.993) isotherm models. The study concludes that Cu‐LSX zeolite is a viable adsorbent for effective CN − removal from aqueous solutions.