The natural mordenite from Palmarito de Cauto deposit (PZ), Cuba, was studied in this work as an ion exchanger to remove Cr(3+) cations from alkaline aqueous solutions at different pH and chromium concentrations. The mordenite stability under cyclic treatment processes with alkaline solutions and its capacity to decrease the pH of the solutions was also analyzed. It was shown that PZ removes Cr(3+) ions from alkaline solutions, and it happens independently of the starting chromium concentration and the pH of the exchange solution used. This material has an important neutralizing effect on alkaline solutions, expressed in a significant pH decrease from the early stages of the treatments. For solutions with initial pH equal to 11, it decreases to a value of around seven. The stability of this material is not affected significantly after continuous cyclic treatment with NaOH solution, which shows that mordenite, in particular from Palmarito de Cauto deposit, has high stability in alkaline solutions. The results are important as they suggest that natural zeolites may be of interest in treatments of alkaline industrial waste effluents.
Keywords: Cr(III) removal; natural zeolites; pH neutralization; waste effluents.