Removal of Pb(II) from Water by FeSiB Amorphous Materials

Abstract

Amorphous materials have shown great potential in removing azo dyes in wastewaters. In this study, the performance of FeSiB amorphous materials, including FeSiB amorphous ribbons (FeSiBAR), and FeSiB amorphous powders prepared by argon gas atomization (FeSiBAP) and ball-milling (FeSiBBP), in removing toxic Pb(II) from aqueous solution was compared with the widely used zero valent iron (ZVI) powders (FeCP). The results showed that the removal efficiency of all the amorphous materials in removing Pb(II) from aqueous solution are much better than FeCP. Pb(II) was removed from aqueous solution by amorphous materials through the combined effect of absorption, (co)precipitation and reduction. Furthermore, FeSiBAP and FeSiBBP have relatively higher removal efficiencies than FeSiBAR due to a high specific surface area. Although the FeSiBBP has the highest removal efficiency up to the first 20 min, the removal process then nearly stopped due to aggregation.