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Novel ball-milled biochar-vermiculite nanocomposites effectively adsorb aqueous As(Ⅴ)
Citation:
Li, F., Y. Wan, J. Chen, X. Hu, D. Tsang, H. Wang, AND B. Gao. Novel ball-milled biochar-vermiculite nanocomposites effectively adsorb aqueous As(Ⅴ). CHEMOSPHERE. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 260:127566, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127566
Impact/Purpose:
Adsorption is currently the most widely used treatment technology to remove arsenic from wastewater. The treatment efficiency depends on the adsorbent used. In this work, a novel adsorbent was developed by ball-milling biochar and vermiculite into a nanocomposite. The adsorption performance of this adsorbent was much improved compared with its pristine counterparts. This nanocomposite can potentially serve as a superior low-cost adsorbent for arsenic removal in real world applications.
Description:
Ball milling was used to fabricate a nanocomposite of 20% hickory-biochar (600°C) and 80% expanded vermiculite (20%-BC/VE). This novel adsorbent had much higher removal of As(V) from aqueous solution than ball-milled biochar and expanded vermiculite. Characterization of these adsorbents showed that the enhanced As(V) adsorption was ascribed to much larger surface area and pore volume (2-6 times), notable changes in crystallinity, activation of cations, and increased functional groups in the nanocomposite compared with the ball-milled products of their pristine counterparts. The As(V) adsorption process by the 20%-BC/VE fitted well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2=0.990) and Langmuir isotherm model (R2=0.989) with a maximum adsorption capacity of 20.1 mg g−1. The 20%-BC/VE best performed at pH about 6. The adsorption efficiency was not sensitive to the competition of NO3-, Cl-, SO24-as well as the coexistence of humic acid. However, the adsorption capacity for As(V) was significantly reduced by coexisting with PO34-. The 20%-BC/VE composite can potentially serve as a superior low-cost adsorbent for As(V) removal in real world applications.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Novel ball-milled biochar-vermiculite nanocomposites effectively adsorb aqueous As(Ⅴ)