Laboratory investigation of arsenic removal from the aquatic environment using nano adsorbents extracted from native zeolite

Abstract

The presence of arsenic in water is a major problem in communities due to its toxicity and hazard. The aim of this study was to evaluate the removal efficiency of arsenic by CTAB-modified clinoptilolite zeolite from aqueous solution. The effect of contact time, pH, ionic strength, zeolite dose and CTAB concentration on arsenic removal were investigated. Structural analysis of XRD showed that the adsorbent used in this study was composed of clinoptilolite due to three strong peaks in 9.8, 22 and 27 degrees with intervals of 8.9, 3.9 and 3.1. Optimum condition for effective adsorption were obtained at pH = 3, zeolite dose of 5 g L–1, CTAB concentration of 5 mM, ionic strength of 0.1 M sodium chloride and contact time of 10 minutes. This study suggested that, the CTAB modified zeolite can be used as an effective and inexpensive adsorbent to remove arsenic from aqueous solutions, since it is a low-cost, abundant and locally available.