Application of iron-coated sand on the treatment of toxic metals

Iron-coated sand (ICS) prepared by using FeCl₃ and Joomoonjin sand widely used in Korea was used in this study. In batch adsorption kinetics, As(V) adsorption onto ICS was completed within 20 minutes, while adsorption of Pb(II), Cd(II), and Cu(II) onto ICS was slower than that of As(V) and strongly depended on initial pH. At pH 3.5, ICS showed a selective adsorption of Pb(II) compared to Cd( II) and Cu(II) . However, above pH 4.5, near complete removal of Pb(II), Cd(II), and Cu(II) was observed through adsorption or precipitation depending on pH. As(V) adsorption onto ICS occurred through an anionic-type and followed a Langmuir-type adsorption behaviour. In column experiments, pH was identified as an important parameter in the breakthrough of As(V). As(V) breakthrough at pH 4.5 was much slower than at pH 9 due to a strong chemical bonding between As(V) and ICS as similar with batch adsorption behaviour. With variation of ICS amounts, the optimum amount of ICS at pH 4.5 was identified as 5.0 grams in this research. At this condition, ICS could be used to treat 200 mg of As(V) with 1 kg of ICS until 50 ppb of As(V) appeared in the effluent. In this research, as a new treatment system, ICS can be potentially used to treat As(V) and cationic heavy metals.