Investigation the efficiency of Mch/Fe-Zr nano-composite for adsorption of humic acid

Organic material, including humic acid, is a matter that affect water quality through increasing coagulates and disinfectants and results in production of complex materials and increasing re-growth in distribution systems and provides a background for production of by-products resulted from disinfection. The aim of this study is to study the synthesis and efficiency of Mch/Fe-Zr nano-composite to remove humic acid from aqueous solutions. Synthesis of nano-composite was carried out as co-precipitation method and to identify its characterizations SEM, FTIR, XRD and VSM techniques were used. The effect of different variables including initial pH (3–11), contact time (0–120 min), initial concentration of pollutants (10–50 mg /L), adsorbent dosage (0.4–2 g/L) and temperature (15–35°C) were studied. The results of the research indicated that highest efficiency of humic acid removal was in pH = 5 (100%). In addition, as the adsorbent dosage increases, adsorption efficiency increases and increased concentration results in decreased removal efficiency. Adsorption follows Freundlich isotherm and the kinetic model of the pseudo-second order. According to the obtained results, it was clear that synthesized adsorbent has high capability in humic acid adsorption and can be used as a cost effective and accessible adsorbent.