Department of Biochemistry and Chemistry, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, 141004
*Corresponding author (email: bdsharma@pau.edu)
Effect of ionic strength of NaCl and CaCl2 supporting electrolytes on adsorption of boron (B) by twelve soil series of North-western India was studied at 25°C. The phenomenon was studied at concentrations of 0.01, 0.1 and 1.0 M NaCl, and 0.01, 0.033 and 1.0 M CaCl2 solutions for evaluating the effect of ionic strength of supporting electrolytes on the extent of B adsorption by soils. Boron adsorption increased with increase in ionic strength of the supporting electrolyte solution. At a given molarity, the B adsorption was higher in the presence of NaCl as compared to CaCl2. The boron adsorption data conformed to the Langmuir and the Freundlich adsorption equations. Bonding energy constant, Freundlich constant (K) and the averaged values of distribution coefficient (Kd) increased with the increase in ionic strength of the supporting electrolytes.
Boron adsorption, ionic strength, Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms, supporting electrolytes