Abstract
The effluent from various industries is the potential source of water contamination during last few decades. Thus effective methods have been adopted for the removal of toxic heavy metals from industrial effluents that show carcinogenic and mutagenic effects. The present research involves removal of Sb3+ that has been investigated using chitosan-montmorillonite biocomposites. The kinetics and adsorption equilibrium was determined respectively using batch adsorption model, taking into account solution pH, contact time and initial metal ion concentration. The adsorption isotherm parameters were evaluated wherein Freundlich model best represents the experimental data. The highest adsorption capacity of 48.7 mg/g of chitosan-montmorillonite beads was attained from an initial concentration of 100 g/m3 at 300 K. The equilibrium was achieved during initial phase of contact of 10 minutes only. The biosorbent show comparable high adsorption capacity for Sb3+ and is efficiently functional in broad range of metal ion concentration from 4 mg/m3 (4 parts per billion) to 100 g/m3 (100 parts per million) of solution. The adsorption kinetics follows chemical adsorption as the rate determining step. The interaction forces between Sb3+ and adsorbent/s were determined by Fourier Transform Infrared-Attenuated Total Reflectance (FT-IR-ATR). The metal ion desorption and reusability of biosorbent/s up to three cycles was supported by 0.1 M potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution. The Scanning Electron Micrographs and X-Ray Diffractograms of the adsorbents before and after metal interaction were found to correspond to the batch adsorption studies of the metal ion.
Highlights
Antimony is known to be a toxicological and carcinogenic metal
Due to insignificant difference in Sb3+ removal, pH 5-6 appeared to be the optimal range for efficient adsorption of Sb3+
The neutral and negatively charged Sb3+ ions present at pH >9 are attracted to the positively charged surface of the adsorbent thereby resulting in sufficient Sb3+ adsorption
Summary
Antimony is known to be a toxicological and carcinogenic metal. It is ubiquitously introduced to the environment from natural processes that include weathering of rock and soil run-off.Human activities such as extensive use of lead alloys, battery grids, bearing metal, cable sheathing, plumber’s solder, pewter, ammunition, sheet and pipe add to the concentration of antimony in the environment. Antimony is known to be a toxicological and carcinogenic metal. It is ubiquitously introduced to the environment from natural processes that include weathering of rock and soil run-off. Human activities such as extensive use of lead alloys, battery grids, bearing metal, cable sheathing, plumber’s solder, pewter, ammunition, sheet and pipe add to the concentration of antimony in the environment. Among the most important uses of antimony in non-metal products are textiles, paints and lacquers, rubber compounds, ceramic enamels, glass and pottery abrasives, and certain types of matches [SbCl3] (Ramesh, Hasegawa, Maki, Ueda, 2007). The metal, when discharged in wastewater represent a serious threat to human population. The concentrations of antimony in groundwater and surface water are found to be in the range of 0.1-0.2 mg/m3 the discharge of antimony into aquatic bodies and sources of drinking water has begun to be strictly controlled (Khan, Rasul, Munir, Habibuddowla, Alauddin, Newaz, & Hussam, 2000)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
