Scientific Reports (Aug 2021)

Highly efficient removal of Sb(V) from water by franklinite-containing nano-FeZn composites

  • Huiqing Wu,
  • Qingping Wu,
  • Jumei Zhang,
  • Qihui Gu,
  • Weipeng Guo,
  • Shun Rong,
  • Yongxiong Zhang,
  • Xianhu Wei,
  • Lei Wei,
  • Ming Sun,
  • Aimei Li,
  • Xinhui Jing

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95520-7
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 17

Abstract

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Abstract The existence of toxic and carcinogenic pentavalent antimony in water is a great safety problem. In order to remove antimony(V) from water, the purpose of this study was to prepare a novel graphene nano iron zinc (rGO/NZV-FeZn) photocatalyst via hydrothermal method followed by ultrasonication. Herein, weakly magnetic nano-Fe–Zn materials (NZV-FeZn, GACSP/NZV-FeZn, and rGO/NZV-FeZn) capable of rapid and efficient Sb(V) adsorption from water were prepared and characterised. In particular, rGO/NZV-FeZn was shown to comprise franklinite, Fe0, and graphite. Adsorption data were fitted by a quasi-second-order kinetic equation and Langmuir model, revealing that among these materials, NZV-FeZn exhibited the best Sb removal performance (543.9 mgSb gNZV-FeZn −1, R 2 = 0.951). In a practical decontamination test, Sb removal efficiency of 99.38% was obtained for a reaction column filled with 3.5 g of rGO/NZV-FeZn. Column regenerability was tested at an initial concentration of 0.8111 mgSb L−1, and the treated water obtained after five consecutive runs complied with the GB5749-2006 requirement for Sb. rGO/NZV-FeZn was suggested to remove Sb(V) through adsorption-photocatalytic reduction and flocculation sedimentation mechanisms and, in view of its high cost performance, stability, and upscalable synthesis, was concluded to hold great promise for source water and wastewater treatment.