Arsenic Removal by Precipitation with Calcium Phosphate Hydroxyapatite

Abstract

The removal of arsenic from synthetic arsenic contaminated water sample by precipitating arsenic (in the form of arsenate oxyanion) with calcium phosphate hydroxyapatite, HAp, was studied under conditions that induce arsenate incorporated calcium phosphate hydroxyapatite, Ca (P/As)HAp, to form. Arsenate is able to substitute for a fraction of the phosphate in HAp host material as it forms. Consequently, arsenic is successfully removed from the contaminated water achieving up to 99% arsenic removal from 25 ppm initial arsenic concentration. The Ca:(P+As) and P:As mole ratios were found to play an important role in arsenic removal efficiency. Higher Ca:(P+As) and P:As mole ratios give higher arsenic removal efficiency. Surprisingly, the pH of the initial anion solution, a key parameter in arsenic speciation, was found to not have a significant effect on arsenic removal by this process. The advantage of this process is that the precipitation can occur rapidly at relatively low levels of arsenic contamination, implying an easy and inexpensive process for arsenic removal can be developed based on this approach.