Abstract

A composite adsorbent was synthesized byimmobilizing ferric oxide or three different iron oxides intoalginate beads (HFOAB) for the removal of arsenate [As(V)]and heavy metals from aqueous phase. Sorption studies wereconducted on single and binary sorbate systems, and the effectsof contact time, initial adsorbate concentration, and pH onadsorption performance of HFOAB were monitored. Thesorption process for As(V) and Cu(II) reached an equilibriumstate within 240 h and 24 h. The maximum sorption capacity ofAs(V) was 13.8 mg g-1 after 168 h. The effect of arsenic specieson Cu(II) sorption was insignificant. The adsorption of As(III),As(V), and Cu(II) followed pseudo second order kinetics.Kinetic studies showed that adsorption process reachedequilibrium within 8 h at an initial concentration of 10 mg/L.Pb(II) and Cd(II) showed a greater sorption capacity on NCBs,which might be due to sorption sites provided by theimmobilized GNC. The sorption affinity of divalent metal ionson NCB was in the following order: Pb=Cu=Cd >Zn=Ni>Co>Mn. The study demonstrates that the synthesized sorbentcould be useful for the simultaneous removal of both anionic andcationic contaminants from wastewater.