Abstract

This study shows the influence of Cl-, SO4 2-, NO3 -, SiO3 2-, Na +, and Ca2+ on arsenate removal by anion exchanger polymers using the liquid-phase polymer-based retention (LPR) technique. The LPR was carried out in the presence of anion exchanger soluble polymers containing quaternary ammonium salts. These polymers were characterized by NMR. Compared with As(V) removal from deionized water, the results showed that in the presence of ionic mixture, the As(V) removal capacity decreased. However, P(ClVBTA) showed As(V) removal ability of 91 % when the ionic mixture was used. Polymers with chloride exchanger groups showed a higher ability to remove arsenate than the polymer that contains methyl sulfate as anion exchanger group. At higher arsenate concentration (47.6 mg L-1), arsenate retention by the water-soluble polymers ranged between 58 and 91 %. This removal capacity increased gradually reaching 100 % retention when the arsenate concentration in the cell was minimum (5.5 mg L-1). The values of maximum retention capacity were 264 mg g-1 for P(ClMPTA), 260 mg g-1 for P(ClVBTA), and 200 mg g-1 for P(ClAPTA) at the total filtrate volume of 300 mL. The charge-discharge process found to be suitable for saturate the polymer with As(V) and then eluting As(V) for regenerating the extracting capacity of polymer. © Springer-Verlag 2012.