Sorption of As(V) Species from Aqueous Systems

Abstract

Arsenic is of increasing environmental concern due to risk to plants, animal and human health. In aqueous systems arsenic is dominated by the As^V oxyanions H₂AsO₄ ^- and HAsO₄ ^2- under oxidizing conditions. The possibility to remove arsenic from aqueous solutions, using sorption processes, was studied with both inorganic and organic-based sorbents. Both of tested inorganic sorbents, calcined synthetic hydrotalcite and calcined natural boehmite, were acceptable for removal of As^V compounds from aqueous systems at laboratory temperature (20 °C) and neutral pH due to their crystal structure changes. They were able to remove more than 70% of As^V compounds from aqueous solution at low sorbent-solution ratios (1 g L^-1 and 2.6 g L^-1, respectively) and relatively high concentration of AsO₄ ^3- ions in the initial solution (about 2.10^-3 mol L^-1). Humic acid-type sorbents (i.e. pure humic acid and oxihumolite) efficiences remined low even at increased sorbent-solutionratios (about 20 g L^-1) and significantly lower concentrations of As in the initial solution. At higher pH values (about 9), the sorption process slightly improved due to solubility of humic substances in alkaline solutions. The sorption increment did not exceed 50% of the initial As content. These results were confirmed by infrared spectroscopy. Both the original calcined and the sorbed inorganic sorbent samples show significant As-O vibrations, while in spectra of original and sorbed oxihumolite no significant As-O vibrations were observed, due to negligible content of sorbed As compounts.