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Enhanced adsorption of antimonate by ball-milled microscale zero valent iron/pyrite composite: adsorption properties and mechanism insight

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Abstract

Ball-milling is considered as an economical and simple technology to produce novel engineered materials. The ball-milled microscale zero valent iron/pyrite composite (BM-ZVI/FeS2) had been synthesized through ball-milling technology and applied for highly efficient sequestration of antimonate (Sb(V)) in aqueous solution. BM-ZVI/FeS2 exhibited good Sb(V) removal efficiency (≥ 99.18%) at initial concentration less than 100 mg Sb(V)/L. Compared to ball-milled zero valent iron (ZVI) and pyrite (FeS2), BM-ZVI/FeS2 exhibited extremely higher removal efficiency due to the good synergistic adsorption effect. BM-ZVI/FeS2 showed efficient removal performance at broad pH (2.6–10.6). Moreover, the coexisting anions had negligible inhibition influence on the Sb(V) removal. The antimony mine wastewater can be efficiently remediated by BM-ZVI/FeS2, and the residual Sb(V) concentrations (< 0.96 μg/L) can meet the mandatory discharge limit in drinking water (5 μg Sb/L). Experimental and model results demonstrated that endothermic reaction and chemisorption were involved in Sb(V) removal by BM-ZVI/FeS2. The XRD and XPS analyses confirmed that the complete corrosion of ZVI occurred on BM-ZVI/FeS2 after Sb(V) adsorption, resulting in the enhanced Sb(V) sequestration. Mechanism analyses showed that the excellent removal performance of BM-ZVI/FeS2 was ascribed to the high coverage of iron (hydr)oxide oxidized from ZVI. Because of the advantages of economical cost, high Sb(V) removal capacity and easy availability, BM-ZVI/FeS2 offers a promising adsorbent for Sb(V) remediation.

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  • 11 April 2024

    Editor's Note: Readers are alerted that the concerns have been raised with this article. Editorial action will be taken as appropriate once this matter is resolved and all parties have been given an opportunity to respond in full.

  • 03 May 2024

    Editor's Note: Readers are notified that the concerns have been investigated and no action is being taken at this time.

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Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFC1900301, 2017YFC0210402), National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (51825403), the key project of National Natural Science Foundation of China (51634010), National Natural Science Foundation of China (51904354), and Key R&D Program of Hunan Province (2019SK2281).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Metallurgy and Environment, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, Hunan, China

    Xingyu He, Xiaobo Min, Tianyu Peng, Yong Ke, Feiping Zhao & Yunyan Wang

  2. Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Control & Treatment of Heavy Metal Pollution, Changsha, 410083, Hunan, China

    Xiaobo Min, Yong Ke, Feiping Zhao & Yunyan Wang

  3. Department of Green Chemistry, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Sammonkatu 12, 50130, Mikkeli, Finland

    Feiping Zhao & Mika Sillanpää

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  1. Xingyu He
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  3. Tianyu Peng
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  4. Yong Ke
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Correspondence to Yong Ke or Feiping Zhao.

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He, X., Min, X., Peng, T. et al. Enhanced adsorption of antimonate by ball-milled microscale zero valent iron/pyrite composite: adsorption properties and mechanism insight. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 16484–16495 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08163-y

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