Complexation of Antimony with Natural Organic Matter: Performance Evaluation during Coagulation-Flocculation Process

Muhammad Ali Inam, Rizwan Khan, Du Ri Park, Sarfaraz Khan, Ahmed Uddin and Ick Tae Yeom
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Muhammad Ali Inam: Graduate School of Water Resources, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) 2066, Suwon 16419, Korea
Rizwan Khan: Graduate School of Water Resources, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) 2066, Suwon 16419, Korea
Du Ri Park: Graduate School of Water Resources, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) 2066, Suwon 16419, Korea
Sarfaraz Khan: Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region Eco-Environment, State Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
Ahmed Uddin: Key Laboratory of Jiangsu Province for Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Sciences and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Ick Tae Yeom: Graduate School of Water Resources, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) 2066, Suwon 16419, Korea

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: The presence of natural organic matter (NOM) in drinking water sources can stabilize toxic antimony (Sb) species, thus enhancing their mobility and causing adverse effects on human health. Therefore, the present study aims to quantitatively explore the complexation of hydrophobic/hydrophilic NOM, i.e., humic acid (HA), salicylic acid (SA), and L-cysteine (L-cys), with Sb in water. In addition, the removal of Sb(III, V) species and total organic carbon (TOC) was evaluated with ferric chloride (FC) as a coagulant. The results showed a stronger binding affinity of hydrophobic HA as compared to hydrophilic NOM. The optimum FC dose required for Sb(V) removal was found to be higher than that for Sb(III), due to the higher complexation ability of hydrophobic NOM with antimonate than antimonite. TOC removal was found to be higher in hydrophobic ligands than hydrophilic ligands. The high concentration of hydrophobic molecules significantly suppresses the Sb adsorption onto Fe precipitates. An isotherm study suggested a stronger adsorption capacity for the hydrophobic ligand than the hydrophilic ligand. The binding of Sb to NOM in the presence of active Fe sites was significantly reduced, likely due to the adsorption of contaminants onto precipitated Fe. The results of flocs characteristics revealed that mechanisms such as oxidation, complexation, charge neutralization, and adsorption may be involved in the removal of Sb species from water. This study may provide new insights into the complexation behavior of Sb in NOM-laden water as well as the optimization of the coagulant dose during the water treatment process.

Keywords: antimony; adsorption; complexation; ferric chloride; natural organic matter; water treatment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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