Removal of Arsenic from Groundwater Using Nano-Metal Oxide Adsorbents

Abstract

Arsenic can be found in groundwater that is harmful to human beings. In this research, we present the potential uses of ZnO microparticles, ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticles to removal arsenic in groundwater. The experiments of %arsenic removal upon using ZnO microparticles ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticles were conducted in 25 mL of sample volume with 0.05 g of nanoadorpbents at pH 6. We found that the efficiency of arsenic adsorption increased with a reduction of particle size of theadsorbents. Upon using nanoadsorbents to remove arsenic from the solutions with the concentrations of 200-2000 ppb, we found that the %removal of arsenic decreased from 100% to 84% for ZnO nanoparticles and 100% to 97% for TiO2 nanoparticles. Adsorption capacities upon using ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticles were 0.85 and 0.99 mg of arsenic/g of sorbents, respectively. TiO2 nanoparticles exhibited a better adsorption ability to arsenic than that ZnO because TiO2 nanoparticles had a smaller average particle size and larger surface area allowed the adsorption of hydroxyl groups on the surface that could bond with in coming HAsO42- via hydrogen bonding resulting in a better arsenic adsorptive capacity.

Comparative performance and ecotoxicity assessment of Y2(CO3)3, ZnO/TiO2, and Fe3O4 nanoparticles for arsenic removal from water

“…62 and 63) and ZnO (ref. 64) based nanocomposites for As(V) removal presented lower Q max values. The superior surface area explains the higher Q max values achieved with this material compared with the previous studies since similar round-shaped nanoparticles were employed in the published reports.…”