Arsenic is one of the biggest problems present in water consumption associated with a number of health effects. Solar Oxidation and Removal of Arsenic (SORAS) has been used as an accessible technology in water treatment. It consists in adding iron wool to the polluted water and exposed the system to the sun. After a few hours, the arsenic is adsorbed in the iron oxide produced. In this research, iron oxide was produced following the SORAS procedure: iron wool (1g) was placed in bottles with 1 L of water under sun over three days. The iron oxide produced was dried and analyzed by X-Ray Diffraction and Raman Spectroscopy. X-Ray diffraction confirmed the presence of lepidocrocite. However, the Raman spectrum, probably due to an increase in temperature during the analyses, evidences the presence of maghemite. Later on, the arsenic adsorption properties of the material were evaluated by an isotherm experiment. The iron oxide synthesized (0.1000g to 0,3000g) was placed into contact with a 400 µg/L of Arsenic solution for 24h.The isotherm data best fit the Langmuir model giving a maximum adsorption capacity of 3333 µg/g. That value permits to classify the material adsorption capacity as high. The iron oxide obtained before and after the arsenic adsorption was analyzed by infrared spectrometry as well. A stretch in the bonds of iron oxide was evidenced, which is associated with the presence of arsenic. The high adsorption capacity and the ability to produce an arsenic adsorbent by this method look as a sustainable promising technology for arsenic removal. More experiments are on progress to determine the best conditions to produce the material.

Physical and chemical characterization of iron (III) oxide produced by SORAS technique for the removal of arsenic in drinking water

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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