DEVELOPMENT OF A CAPABILITY TO QUANTIFY ARSENIC IN AN ADSORBENT
EMSL Project ID
2508
Abstract
Arsenic in ground water and surface water is one of the major issues associated with drinking water since arsenic is a toxic metal that has serious effects on human health and the environment. USEPA has set a standard for arsenic at 0.05 mg/L. The Australian standard is still more stringent at 0.007 mg/L. Arsenic is found in number of forms and a precise, fast and cost effective method should be developed to measure it at very low concentrations. One of the effective methods to remove arsenic is by adsorption. It is important to develop a methodology to measure the amount adsorbed on the adsorbent in order to optimize the adsorption conditions. A rapid, high-sensitive, non-destructive, quantitative, multi-elemental analytical method is best suited to investigate the issues associated with trace elements such as arsenic. Particle induced x-ray emission (PIXE) is such an analytical tool and it is suitable for simultaneously quantifying trace elements including arsenic with sensitivity of at least parts per million (ppm). PIXE has proved to be an effective technique for sensitive and quantitative analysis of trace elements in biological, environmental, and earth sciences related materials. PIXE can be used to measure the amount of arsenic adsorbed onto the adsorbent (i.e. the arsenic concentration in solid phase). In this study, a batch of adsorption experiments will be conducted with a number of adsorbents. The experimental methodology of batch adsorption is straight forward and simple which requires the mixing of different concentrations of arsenic solution with known quantity of adsorbent (for example activated carbon) for a known time. The arsenic in the solid phase will be measured using PIXE for different contact times of arsenic with adsorbent.
Project Details
Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2002-08-12
End Date
2005-08-14
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator