Anchorage of iron hydro(oxide) nanoparticles onto activated carbon to remove As(V) from water

The adsorption of arsenic (V) by granular iron hydro(oxides) has been proven to be a reliable technique. However, due to the low mechanical properties of this material, it is difficult to apply it in full scale water treatment. Hence, the aim of this research is to develop a methodology to anchor iron hydro(oxide) nanoparticles onto activated carbon, in which the iron hydro(oxide) nanoparticles will give the activated carbon an elevated active surface area for arsenic adsorption and also help avoid the blockage of the activated carbon pores. Three activated carbons were modified by employing the thermal hydrolysis of iron as the anchorage procedure. The effects of hydrolysis temperature (60–120 °C), hydrolysis time (4–16 h), and FeCl3 concentration (0.4–3 mol Fe/L) were studied by the surface response methodology. The iron content of the modified samples ranged from 0.73 to 5.27%, with the higher end of the range pertaining to the carbons with high oxygen content. The materials containing smaller iron hydro(oxide) particles exhibited an enhanced arsenic adsorption capacity. The best adsorbent material reported an arsenic adsorption capacity of 4.56 mg As/g at 1.5 ppm As at equilibrium and pH 7.

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► Arsenic is a water pollutant that can cause severe illnesses to humans.
► It has been proven that Arsenic oxyanions have high affinity by Iron hydro(oxides).
► Iron hydro(oxide) nanoparticles were anchored onto granular activated carbon by a simple technique.
► The small particles loaded avoid the obstruction of activated carbon pores.
► Modified carbons have a high arsenic adsorption capacity.