Arsenic sorption onto an aluminum oxyhydroxide-poly[(4-vinylbenzyl)trimethylammonium chloride] hybrid sorbent

Abstract

In this work, interpenetrated hybrid polymers consisting of aluminum oxyhydroxide (AlOOH) and a quaternary ammonium reagent were synthesized, and their capabilities of arsenite and arsenate retention from aqueous solution were studied. The hybrids were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR); ¹³C, ²⁷Al and ²⁹Si solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance; scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS); FTIR microspectroscopy; and X-ray diffraction (XRD), among other techniques. Arsenic(III) and (V) sorption experiments were conducted under different experimental conditions (i.e., isotherms, kinetics, and selectivity). The hybrid sorbent shows a poor affinity toward arsenite; however, the hybrids with higher AlOOH exhibited improved As(III) sorption without preoxidation. The opposite trend was observed for arsenate. Kinetic experiments showed that the sorption of arsenate occurs more rapidly than that of arsenite.