The effect of co-existing solutes on arsenate removal with hydrotalcite compound

Hydrotalcite (HTAL-Cl), an inorganic anion exchanger, is of use as an adsorbent for the removal of arsenate (As(V)) in water systems. The adsorption properties of HTAL-Cl for As(V) and the effects of co-existing anions on the As(V) removal performance were investigated in this work. Under the conditions of pH>or=4, the adsorption capacity for As(V) gradually decreased with an increase of pH, but As(V) was removed effectively within the range of pH = 5-8. Co-existing anions interfered As(V) removal, and the effect decreased in the order of HPO(4)(2-) > HCO(3)(-) > SO(4)(2-) > Cl(-). In binary solute systems containing phosphate and As(V), the maximum adsorption capacity of HTAL-Cl was 0.95 mmol g(-1) for phosphate and 0.65 mmol g(-1) for As(V): the total of these values corresponded to the maximum adsorption capacity for As(V) in single solute systems. The adsorption isotherms in these binary solute systems were approximated by the following modified Langmuir equations:As(V): q(As) = 18.7 radicalC(As)/(1 + 21.5 radicalC(P) + 12.8 radicalC(As)), phosphate : q(P) = 33.1 radicalC(P)/(1 + 21.5 radicalC(P) + 12.8 radicalC(As)). The column adsorption experiments showed that the adsorbed As(V) was released by the phosphate adsorption, because phosphate was adsorbed more strongly on HTAL-CL than As(V).