Adsorptive Removal of Arsenic Using Orange Juice Residue

A novel adsorbent has been prepared by simple chemical modification of orange juice residue (OJR) with the substitution of phosphate groups on the alcoholic analog of cellulose. Phosphorylated gel was further loaded with iron(III). The loading capacity for iron(III) on the gel was as high as 3.7 mol/kg. Adsorption studies on iron(III) loaded gel were carried out both batch wise and by using a column. Arsenic(III) adsorption was found to have been favored at alkaline condition (pH=7–11) while that of arsenic(V) was at acidic condition (pH=2–6). Maximum adsorption capacity for As(V) and As(III) was evaluated as 0.94 and 0.91 mol/kg at their optimum pH values 3.1 and 10.0, respectively. Experimental results indicate that iron-loaded phosphorylated OJR can be potentially applied for the removal and recovery of arsenic from various aqueous media.