Removal properties of arsenic compounds with synthetic hydrotalcite compounds

Abstract

The contamination of underground water with inorganic arsenic compounds has caused serious problems, particularly in developing countries. For water containing low-level arsenic compounds, an adsorption process may be more effective than other processes such as RO membrane and precipitation. In this study, the removal performance for arsenic compounds was examined with synthetic hydrotalcite (HTAL) compounds as an adsorbent process from the following viewpoints: the adsorption capacity, adsorption isotherm, the effects of pH and co-existing anions. The HTAL-Cl, which contains Cl− ions as an intercalate, showed very high adsorption capacity in the neutral pH region. The maximum adsorption capacity was 105 mg-As(V) g−1. The adsorption isotherm was approximated by the following modified Langmuir equation:The equation suggests that one mol of As(V) occupies two adsorption sites of HTAL-Cl, and the experimental result indicated that 2.64 mol of Cl− ions in the HTAL-Cl were substituted with one mol of As(V). The interfering effects of co-existing anions were relatively low, and the magnitude of the effects was observed in the order of HCO3− > HPO42− > SO42− > Cl−.