Preliminary Studies of Arsenic Adsorption Using Activated Carbons Synthetized from Kagneckia Lanceolata and Passiflora Ligularis

Abstract

Arsenic is a chemical element that is found in freshwater in volcanic areas or because of activities like mining. It is a toxic element that can cause diseases like cancer, if taken in high amounts. The South of Peru is a volcanic region with intensive mining activity, and several governmental studies have reported arsenic in various rivers that supply water for the local population. Conventional arsenic removal techniques, such as reverse osmosis, can be very costly, making it necessary to study new, efficient and low-cost arsenic removal methods. The present study seeks to analyze the efficiency of activated carbons synthesized from Passiflora Ligularis (PL) shells and from a plant native to the Peruvian Andes, Kageneckia lanceolata (KL), at removing As from water by adsorption. The iodine number of these carbons were 964.39 and 962.13 mg/g, respectively. Images taken using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) corroborate how porous these new adsorbents are. In addition, it appears the adsorption equilibrium best fits the Langmuir model, with an adsorption capacity (Q max) of 5.07 mg/g for Passiflora ligularis (PL) and 4.51 mg/g for Kageneckia lanceolata (KL). The results show these new eco-friendly and low-cost adsorbents have great potential as As removing agents, and their performance can be improved with a treatment to give them As adsorption specificity.