BENFEP Spheres: New Porous Adsorbent Material for Arsenic Removal from Natural Waters

Abstract

In the present work, the adsorption of arsenic (V) on a new porous material (named BENFEP), was studied for the first time. The parameters pH, adsorbent dosage, initial concentration and contact time were evaluated on the adsorption performance in a batch system. The results show that maximum arsenic removal is achieved at pH 7.0–7.5 with 1.5 g/L adsorbent. The observed data were found to follow the Langmuir adsorption isotherm between pH values of 5 and 9, indicating that the adsorbent had mainly homogeneous sites on its surface. The experimental data obtained from the thermodynamic study showed that the reaction was viable, spontaneous and exothermic. No significant deterioration in water quality was observed after the adsorption process, a characteristic that is fundamental for its application in small-scale water treatment systems, particularly in isolated rural areas.