Use of nanoadvanced activated carbon, alumina and ferric adsorbents for humics removal from water: isotherm study

The adsorption of humic substances on three different adsorbents was investigated and adsorption isotherms were applied in this research. The three adsorbents studied include granular activated carbon (GAC), ferric oxihydroxide in its beta form (β-FeOOH) and iron-coated activated alumina (AAFS). Physical and chemical characteristics of the adsorbents were also fully investigated. Calcium was added to the HS solution in order to represent water with a hardness equivalent to water hardness typically found in London (UK). The examination of the GAC indicated a large microporous area with lower surface area associated with meso- and macropores. The AAFS and β-FeOOH did not present any microporous area. The overall surface area was high for GAC (980 m2g−1) but lower for AAFS (286 m2g−1) and β-FeOOH (360 m2g−1). The Freundlich isotherm model was fitted to all adsorbent–adsorbate systems. It was shown that GAC offered a large adsorption capacity for removal of low molecular weight humics F1 (MW 0–5 kDa) but not for substances with molecular weight larger than 10 kDa (F3). The β-FeOOH adsorption capacity was only 0.43 mg g−1, compared with 9.11 and 2.55 mg g−1on GAC and AAFS, respectively. On the contrary, F1 is not well adsorbed and only F2 (5–10 kDa) can be efficiently removed by AAFS and β-FeOOH. It was strongly suggested that precipitation/condensation occurred on the adsorbent surface.