(119c) Removal of Arsenic by a Nano-Particle Blend Hollow Fiber Membrane

The objective of this research is to prepare a based nano-particle blend hollow fiber membrane to adsorb arsenate from groundwater. A new nano-sized metal oxide was first prepared, which was then used in fabrication of the membrane. The hydrophobicity, porosity, mechanical strength, water flux and arsenate adsorption capacity of the membrane were investigated. The additional zirconium based nano-particle increased the hydrophilicity, which resulted in a significant enhancement on the water flux of the blend membrane. The batch adsorption experiments indicated that the membrane could effectively remove arsenate in a wide pH ranging from 2 to 9. The adsorption equilibrium could be reached in 24 h, and the maximum adsorption capacity was above 120mg/g. Ionic strength did not obviously affect the adsorption. The co-anions such as F^-, HCO₃^-, SiO₃^2-and PO₃^2- had different effects on the adsorption. In addition, the membrane could remove arsenate efficiently though the continuous filtration. The mechanism for the removal of arsenate was proposed based on the FTIR and XPS studies.