SUMMARY
The aim of this work is to study the effectiveness of retention of cations Cu2+ by adsorption on a powder activated carbon (CAP) and on non-treated bentonite of Maghnia (Bb). The treated solutions are synthetic solutions of copper in distilled water.Our tests have shown that the retention of copper on the PAC and the Bb is a reversible phenomenon. The copper removal efficiencies are acceptable, and the maximum efficiency was reached after 4 hours for PAC and after 20 minutes using the Bb. Kinetic adsorption can be described more appropriately by the kinetic model of pseudo-second order.In addition, the pH of treatment affects the adsorption procedure and performance improved with increasing pH. The copper amount adsorbed increases with the increase of the dose of the adsorbent (0.5 to 8 g/l). The adsorption of copper follows the laws of Langmuir, Freundlich, BET and Dubinin-Radushkevich. The amount adsorbed is improved with the increase of the initial content of copper (1to10 mg/l) using the CAP and the Bb.