Aloe vera mucilage as a sustainable biopolymer flocculant for efficient arsenate anion removal from water
Date
2024-07-24
Authors
Venegas-García, Deysi J.
Wilson, Lee
De la Cruz Guzmán , Paola Mayela
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The Royal Society of Chemistry
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Article
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Abstract
In recent years, utilization of biopolymers as natural coagulant–flocculant (CF) systems has become an area of interest, due to their sustainable nature (renewable, biodegradable, and non-toxic) and potential utility as alternative systems to replace synthetic flocculants. Herein, a biopolymer extracted from Aloe vera mucilage (AVM) was investigated for its arsenic(V) removal properties in a CF water treatment process. Structural characterization of AVM was supported by spectroscopy (FTIR, 13C solids NMR & XPS), TGA, rheology, and pHpzc. The arsenic(V) removal process was optimized by employing the Box–Behnken design under three main factors (coagulant, flocculant dosage and initial arsenic(V) concentration), which led to a reduction of the initial arsenic(V) concentration to levels below the Maximum Acceptable Concentration (MAC; 10 μg L−1). The kinetics and thermodynamics of arsenic(V) removal were analyzed with a one-pot in situ method, where the kinetic profiles followed a pseudo-first-order model. The thermodynamic parameters are characteristic of a spontaneous (entropy-driven) and endothermic physisorption removal process. Flocs isolated from the process were analyzed by XPS, where the results reveal that calcium and amide groups of AVM contribute to the arsenic(V) removal mechanism.
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This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence.
Keywords
Arsenic decontamination, groundwater, bioflocculant, water treatment, Aloe vera mucilage
Citation
Venegas-García, D. J., Wilson, L. D., & De la Cruz-Guzmán, M. (2024). Aloe vera mucilage as a sustainable biopolymer flocculant for efficient arsenate anion removal from water. RSC Sustainability, 2(9), 2632–2643. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4su00170b
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DOI
10.1039/D4SU00170B