Production of red mud based nanofibers and their potential in arsenate removal from waste water

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to utilize red mud (RM, an industrial waste material) as a nanofiber adsorbent in arsenate removal from waste water. RM, obtained from Seydişehir Aluminum Plant (Konya, Turkey), was leached using nitric acid in order to recover metallic elements such as Fe, Al, and Ti. Oxides and hydroxides of these elements are known to have a high affinity toward arsenic. Metallic salt solution, obtained after leaching treatment, was used to produce nanofibers via electrospinning method to get an adsorbent material with high surface area. Compositional, phase structural, microstructural, and thermal analyses were conducted using AAS, XRF, XRD, SEM, and DT/TGA. Organic removal from nanofibers were conducted at 600 °C for 5 h, based on the DT/TGA results. After heat treatment, nanofibers with diameters ranging from 45 to 58 nm were obtained. Performance of nanofibers in As(V) (arsenate) removal from waste water was also evaluated with different amount of nanofibers (1-3 mg/L), arsenate concentration (5-100 ppm), and contact time (10-120 min). Experimental results showed that the fastest and highest removal efficiency (∼80.2%) was obtained for 3 mg/L nanofiber and 10 ppm arsenate concentration at 90 min. Kinetic studies revealed that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was dominantly active in the adsorption process.