Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2019ND209B

Fabrication of point of use treatment systems for aqueous arsenic and their evaluation

Institute: North Dakota
Year Established: 2019 Start Date: 2019-05-31 End Date: 2020-05-30
Total Federal Funds: $13,440 Total Non-Federal Funds: $26,880

Principal Investigators: Achintya N. Bezbaruah

Project Summary: Arsenic is carcinogenic pollutant possess serious problem for drinking water throughout the world, affecting more than 140 million people. In this work, we used iron hybridized graphene oxide (GO) as an effective adsorbent for aqueous arsenic removal. We synthesized magnetite (M) or nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) particles on GO sheets. The synthesized nanohybrids materials were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM & TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Arsenic removal capacity, adsorption isotherm, kinetics, and effects of environmental attributes (pH, temperature, the presence of other ions and compounds) were investigated and the findings are compared. Among this Nano, adsorbent GNZVI work most efficiently among variable environmental condition and have very high adsorption capacities with strong complexation with arsenic. The possible mechanisms of arsenic removal by different graphene-supported iron nanoparticles are elucidated. Nanohybrid have the potential for use in filter media development but high arsenic loading in spent material poses a safety concern. Here, we will be investigating desorption pattern of arsenic saturated adsorbent under variable environmental condition (pH, ORP, presence competitive ions, ionic strength, temperature) to make it safe for use in rural and preurban area.