Evaluation and comparison of aluminum-coated pumice and zeolite in arsenic removal from water resources

Abstract

In this research the potential of aluminum-coated pumice and zeolite in arsenic, As (V) removal was investigated and compared. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-Ray Flaorescence Spectrometry (XRF) were carried out to determine the properties of the adsorbents. Several parameters including adsorbent dosage] pH, contact time, and initial As(V) concentration were studied. The optimum pH obtained for both adsorbents was pH = 7. As(V) adsorption by both adsorbents followed the Freundlich isotherm (for aluminum-coated pumice and zeolite respectively with R2 > 0.98 and R2 > 0.99). The obtained data from kinetics showed that the pseudo-second order model could better explain As(V) adsorption for both aluminum-coated pumice and zeolite (R2 > 0.98 and R2 > 0.99 respectively). Because of low cost, both adsorbents may be economically used, but aluminum-coated zeolite showed high efficiency of, due to its porosity and surface area. More than 96% of As(V) with initial concentration of 250 μg/L was removed by 10 g/L aluminum-coated zeolite at pH = 7 and in 60 minutes to achieve As(V) concentration of 10 μg/L, while only 71% of As(V) could be removed by aluminum-coated pumice. © 2012 Nasseri and Heidari; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.