Enhanced arsenic removal from drinking water by FeOOH/γ-Al2O3 granules

Arsenic in drinking underground water is highly toxic for human health. The FeOOH/gamma-Al2O3 was developed to remove arsenic from drinking underground water and characterized by transmission electron microscopy, surface area analyzer, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer. Here, the effect of pH of solution, concentration of initial arsenate, temperature, and contact time on dearsenic efficiency was investigated, and the experiment data were fitted with different models which were assessed by regression coefficient (R-2). The results showed that the composite exhibited more excellent adherence to arsenic with the max uptake amount (4.264 mg g(-1)), compared to spherical and mesoporous alumina granules, and that the pseudo-second-order model was able to explain the adsorption kinetic process. The adsorption mechanism could be explained by a proton shifting mechanism. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.