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Effective removal of Sb(V) from aqueous solutions by electrocoagulation with composite scrap iron-manganese as an anode

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Abstract

Improving the removal rate of pentavalent antimony (Sb(V)) by electrocoagulation (EC) is of great significance to the environment. In this paper, the EC with composite scrap iron and manganese filings as an anode (Fe–Mn EC) was investigated for the high-efficiency elimination of Sb(V). The results showed that Fe–Mn EC can enhance the removal of Sb(V) by 11.18–17.36% compared with the traditional iron electrocoagulation (Fe EC). Meanwhile, Sb(V) removal increased with the growth of current concentration as well as Mn content in the anode. However, the Sb(V) removal rate was inhibited when Mn content exceeded 20%. Moreover, the flocs generated during the Fe and Fe–Mn EC (Fe flocs and Fe–Mn flocs) were analyzed both structurally and theoretically using XRD, SEM, BET, and adsorption experiment. The results indicated that the components of Fe–Mn flocs were mostly Mn-substituted FeOOH, which appeared as the structure of nanometer flakes and large internal surface areas. Meanwhile, the Fe–Mn flocs had the ability of much faster Sb(V) adsorption rate; its Sb(V) adsorption capacity was 2.5 times more than that of the Fe flocs. The thermodynamics constants of both Fe and Fe–Mn flocs proved that adsorption was associated with monolayer physical adsorption. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the electrocoagulation with composite scrap iron-manganese as an anode to remove Sb, which provide a new idea and potential technical support for the removal of Sb(V).

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Data availability

The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2019YFC0408400).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Municipal Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, Hangzhou, 310058, People’s Republic of China

    Yongchao Zhou, Wenxin Zheng, Yiping Zhang & Lei Fang

  2. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 1H9, Canada

    Wenming Zhang

Authors
  1. Yongchao Zhou
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  2. Wenxin Zheng
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  3. Wenming Zhang
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  4. Yiping Zhang
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  5. Lei Fang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Yongchao Zhou: conceptualization, methodology. Wenxin Zheng: investigation; writing- original draft preparation. Wenming Zhang: supervision, writing- reviewing and editing. Yiping Zhang: methodology, writing- original draft preparation and supervision. Lei Fang: investigation, writing- reviewing and editing.

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Correspondence to Lei Fang.

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Zhou, Y., Zheng, W., Zhang, W. et al. Effective removal of Sb(V) from aqueous solutions by electrocoagulation with composite scrap iron-manganese as an anode. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 58088–58096 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20033-3

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