Investigation of arsenic removal methods from drinking water with emphasis on metal nanoparticles (titanium dioxide and zinc oxide) and activated carbon

Arsenic is one of the heavy metals with a very high health priority. High concentrations of arsenic in water sources can cause many problems, including gastrointestinal and cardiovascular problems, and even some cancers in consumer populations. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the methods of removing arsenic from drinking water with emphasis on metal nanoparticles (titanium dioxide and zinc oxide) and activated carbon.

This study was a review that was reviewed to study all articles in domestic and foreign databases such as IranModex, IranDock, SID and Google Scholar, Direct science, World Health Organization information base, Pubmed. The keywords heavy metals, arsenic, arsenic removal method, metal nanoparticles, surface water and groundwater were used to search.

A review of studies on the removal of arsenic from water sources showed that since the separation and removal of arsenic from drinking water is very important, various methods such as coagulation and flocculation, ion exchange, filtration and adsorption to remove arsenic from water have been used. Due to good efficiency, low cost and ease of use and other management and environmental considerations, adsorption methods for arsenic removal in water resources have been well introduced. Which is one of the optimal methods of activated carbon. Among the various adsorption methods, activated carbon is a good adsorbent for the removal of 5-valent arsenic (As V), and its efficiency requires pre-oxidation to remove 3-valent arsenic (As III), which is best done with some modifications on activated carbon. For this purpose, nanoparticles have been considered much more for arsenic removal because they can greatly improve the removal efficiency and eliminate the need for pre-oxidation in the water treatment process.

The results showed that iron nanoparticles alone or in combination with other metals, titanium in combination with other metals, especially zinc, cerium and zirconium had significant efficiency.