Synchronous Removal of Arsenic and Fluoride from Aqueous Solution: A Facile Approach to Fabricate Novel Functional Metallopolymer Microspheres

Concurrence of arsenic (As) and fluoride (F^–) ions in groundwater is a serious concern due to their fatal effects. Herein, an attempt was made to fabricate quaternized poly­(zirconyl dimethacrylate-co-vinylbenzyl chloride)] (ZrVBZ), a metallopolymeric microsphere in three-dimensional shape with a porous texture. The synthesized ZrVBZ was utilized for the synchronal removal of As and F^– from water. Techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ¹³C-nuclear magnetic resonance, scanning electron microscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area were used to characterize the ZrVBZ. The maximum adsorption capacity of ZrVBZ for both fluoride and arsenic (q_max F^–: 116.5 mg g^–1, q_max As­(V): 7.0 mg g^–1, and q_max As­(III): 6.5 mg g^–1) at given experimental conditions (adsorbents’ dose: 0.250 g L^–1, feed of F^–: 50 mg L^–1, As­(V)/As­(III): 2000 μg L^–1, and pH: 7.0 ± 0.2) was ascribed to the porous spherical architecture with dual functional sites to facilitate adsorption. The adsorption followed pseudo-second-order kinetics with a correlation coefficient of 0.996, 0.997, and 0.990 for F^–, As­(V), and As­(III), respectively. The isotherm data fitted to the Langmuir isotherm model, and the maximum capacity was 121.5, 7.246, and 6.68 mg g^–1 for F^–, As­(V), and As­(III), respectively. The results of this study indicated that ZrVBZ could be used as an effective adsorbent for the simultaneous removal of F^–, As­(V), and As­(III) from an aqueous medium.