Compared to the status before application/treatment, the BET analysis indicated a noticeable increase in the surface area (m²/g) of the zinc-free part of ZSM-5 in all cases when the zeolite surface was partly reinforced with zinc. This could be attributed to the increased extraction of copper through displacement and deposition on the zinc-coated part of the zeolite compared to the zinc-free part i.e., the functionally adsorbing part, as confirmed by the microanalysis shown in Table . A decreasing number of cations was available to adsorb on the zinc-free part per se and thus bigger pore sizes and more surface area were detected. Remarkably, all treatments with zinc-reinforced ZSM-5 led to significant extraction of copper from the target medium over time as shown by the ICP-OES analysis below. In other words, the partial zinc coating (reinforcement) of the zeolite pellet, created a new active surface with a different and also superior copper extraction capacity than the adsorptive bare one.