Removal of Antimony by FeCl3-Modified Granular-Activated Carbon in Aqueous Solution

In this paper, granular activated carbon was modified with different concentrations of ferric chloride (FeCl3) solution to improve the removal efficiency of antimony(III). A laser particle size analyzer analyzed the characteristics of granular-activated carbon (GAC) modified and specific surface area tests (BET). The effect of different factors including pH, adsorbate concentration, adsorbent dosage, contact time and temperature on the static adsorption was investigated. It was found that pH value had a great impact on the adsorption efficiency. The removal of antimony(III) by FeCl3 -modified activated carbons increased when the adsorption temperature increased. The results indicated that the removal of antimony(III) [Sb(III)] by GAC modified with 0.02 mol/LFeCl3 and 0.05 mol/LFeCl3 were 96.49 and 99.90%, respectively, under pH 7.03 and 25 degrees C. Moreover, the experimental data obtained fit the Freundlich adsorption isotherm well. (C) 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.