title: Removal of Antimonite (Sb(III)) and Antimonate (Sb(V)) from Aqueous Solution Using Carbon Nanofibers That Are Decorated with Zirconium Oxide (ZrO2).
abstract: Zirconium oxide (ZrO2)-carbon nanofibers (ZCN) were fabricated and batch experiments were used to determine antimonite (Sb(III)) and antimonate (Sb(V)) adsorption isotherms and kinetics. ZCN have a maximum Sb(III) and Sb(V) adsorption capacity of 70.83 and 57.17 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption process between ZCN and Sb was identified to be an exothermic and follows an ion-exchange reaction. The application of ZCN was demonstrated using tap water spiked with Sb (200 μg/L). We found that the concentration of Sb was well below the maximum contaminant level for drinking water with ZCN dosages of 2 g/L. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that an ionic bond of Zr-O was formed with Sb(III) and Sb(V). Based on the density functional theory (DFT) calculations, Sb(III) formed Sb-O and O-Zr bonds on the surface of the tetragonal ZrO2 (t-ZrO2) (111) plane and monoclinic ZrO2 planes (m-ZrO2) (111) plane when it adsorbs. Only an O-Zr bond was formed on the surface of t-ZrO2 (111) plane and m-ZrO2 (111) plane for Sb(V) adsorption. The adsorption energy (Ead) of Sb(III) and Sb(V) onto t-ZrO2 (111) plane were 1.13 and 6.07 eV, which were higher than that of m-ZrO2 (0.76 and 3.35 eV, respectively).
authors: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100085, China.|Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems and School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology , 828 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States.
authors: Jinming
authors: J
authors: Luo
authors: Key Laboratory of Jiangxi Province for Persistent Pollutants Control and Resources Recycle, Nanchang Hangkong University , Nanchang 330063, China.
authors: Xubiao
authors: X
authors: Luo
authors: Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems and School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology , 828 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States.
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Crittenden
authors: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100085, China.
authors: Jiuhui
authors: J
authors: Qu
authors: Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100085, China.
authors: Yaohui
authors: Y
authors: Bai
authors: Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems and School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology , 828 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States.|State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University , Beijing, 100084, China.
authors: Yue
authors: Y
authors: Peng
authors: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University , Beijing, 100084, China.
authors: Junhua
authors: J
authors: Li
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D000965:Antimony / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007700:Kinetics; D008958:Models, Molecular; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D056951:Photoelectron Spectroscopy; D011789:Quantum Theory; D012996:Solutions; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction; D015040:Zirconium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012996:Solutions; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014867:Water; C061374:antimonite; D002244:Carbon; D000965:Antimony; D015040:Zirconium; C028541:zirconium oxide