A facile route of mesoporous TiO2 shell for enhanced arsenic removal

The commercial application of metal oxide composites adsorbent for arsenic removal was limited by some problems, such as low adsorption capacity and difficult recycling. Herein, monodispersed core-shell mesoporous H-Fe3O4@mTiO2 magnetic microspheres adsorbent for efficient arsenic removal was prepared by facile premodification of titania precursor and boiling water assisted crystallization treatment. The obtained HFe3O4@mTiO2 composite microspheres possessed high-quality core-shell structure with a high specific surface area of 179.98 m2 g-1 and an available magnetic susceptibility of 31.91 emu g-1 which is easy to separate adsorbent from waste water. The batch adsorption experimental results showed that the Langmuir maximum capacities of the obtained H-Fe3O4@mTiO2 for As(V) and As(III) were 7.74 and 18.22 mg g-1, respectively. Particularly, H-Fe3O4@mTiO2 exhibited excellent performance for As(III) removal at a broad pH range of 3-10. Moreover, as-made adsorbent showed excellent stability after 5 regeneration cycles because the preponderant magnetic inner-core can realize fast solid-liquid separation process of adsorbent without any loss.

Automated summary

A monodispersed core-shell mesoporous H-Fe3O4@mTiO2 magnetic microspheres adsorbent was prepared for efficient arsenic removal, showing high specific surface area and magnetic susceptibility for easy separation. The adsorbent exhibited high adsorption capacities for both As(V) and As(III), especially showing excellent performance for As(III) removal across a broad pH range. Furthermore, the adsorbent showed excellent stability after 5 regeneration cycles due to its advantageous magnetic inner-core for fast solid-liquid separation without any loss.