Effective removal and recovery of antimony using metal-loaded saponified orange waste

Zr(IV) and Fe(III) ions were loaded onto an orange waste precursor to prepare a metal-loaded orange waste gel, which was investigated for the adsorptive removal and recovery of antimony (III and V) from an aqueous environment. The loading capacity of the orange waste for Zr(IV) and Fe(III) was found to be 1.40 and 1.87 mmol/g, respectively. The maximum batch mode sorption capacity of the Zr(III)-loaded saponified orange waste (SOW) gel was found to be 0.94 mmol/g for Sb(III) and 1.19 mmol/g for Sb(V). A nearly similar result was found for the Fe(III)-loaded SOW gel with the sorption capacity for Sb(III) and Sb(V) being 1.12 and 1.19 mmol/g, respectively. The presence of a variety of anionic species such as carbonate, chloride, nitrate and sulfate had no influence on the adsorption of both Sb(III) and Sb(V). A column adsorption-elution test demonstrated the utility of this system in continuous mode. Selective sulfide precipitation of antimony is one of the major findings in the present work, which clearly suggests a means of effective recovery of antimony from solution containing antimony and other metal ions. Due to their low cost, availability and significantly high adsorption capacity, the metal-loaded gels are expected to be effectively employed for the removal and recovery of antimony from aqueous solution, thus leading to the establishment of a greener environment.