Synthesis of Hydrotalcite Powder and Bead to Remove Arsenate

Abstract

The affecting factors on the synthesis of hydrotalcite (HT) powder and bead for effective arsenate removal were investigated. HTs with a ratio of Mg:Al = 2:1 (MA) were synthesized by the co-precipitation method at 70 o C with reaction times of 1 and 120 -300 min. The synthesis of MA with a reaction time of 1 min was done under high supersaturation condition, the others under low supersaturation conditions. The characteristics of MA were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. According to the XRD patterns, pure HT was obtained for all tested conditions. With increasing reaction time from 1 to 300 min, the crystal size of MA increased from 4.9 to 11.3 μm, the surface area of MA increased from 9.3 to 71.4 m 2 /g. Batch-mode experiments showed that 1-min reaction time MA had the highest As(V) removal capacity. MA beads were separately synthesized using alginate and poly acrylamide (PAM) as binding agents. For alginate/MA, heat drying (110 o C) and freeze drying were applied to test the effect of these drying methods on the beads. The results showed that As(V) adsorption capacity of PAM/MA was the highest, closely followed by freeze drying/alginate/MA, much higher than that of heat drying/alginate/MA bead.