Synthesis of Cu-BTC@Fe۳O۴ nanocomposites for removal of arsenic fromwater followed by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometrydetermination

Arsenic is one of the toxic heavy metals, which is found in soil, air, and water resources [۱,۲].Arsenic contamination can cause serious health problems, including skin damage, heart, liver, andbladder cancer, and death [۳,۴]. World Health Organization (WHO) and the EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA) classified arsenic as the first priority contaminant among hazardoussubstances and declared that the limit of arsenic concentration for drinking water is less than ۱۰ppb. Accordingly, several technologies have been developed to eliminate arsenic from drinkingwater including reverse osmosis, chemical coagulation, membrane filtration, ion exchange, andadsorption methods. Because of its robust usage, high efficiency, and cost-effectiveness,adsorption proved to be one of the most promising and efficient remediation techniques for Asremoval. A wide range of adsorbents, including boehmite, alumina, activated carbon, hydratedferric oxide, fly ash, clays, chitosan resins, activated alumina, and cation-exchange resins havebeen reported for arsenic removal. However, most of the established adsorbents have manylimitations such as unsatisfactory capture capacity, slow kinetics, and poor selectivity increasingthe need for new efficient adsorbents. In this work, Cu-BTC@Fe۳O۴ nanocomposites weresynthesized by growing H۳BTC thin layers joined by carboxyl groups onto Fe۳O۴ nanoparticlesfor the removal of arsenic from water. The prepared sorbent was characterized using X-raydiffraction (XRD), vibration sample magnetometer (VSM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM),and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) techniques. Several factors that may affect the adsorptionprocess, including sample pH, sorbent amount, and adsorption time were optimized. Theadsorption isotherm indicated that As adsorption fitted best to the Freundlich isotherm model andthe maximum adsorption capacity was ۹۱.۳۲ mg/g.