• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.62-69
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• 2008

In this study physicochemical characteristics and stability of various manganese coated sands (MCS) prepared with different methods were evaluated. In addition, removal efficiencies of As(III) by each MCS were compared. Four different MCSs were used; B-MCS prepared by baking method, W&D-MCS prepared by wetting and dry method, NMCS prepared during the water treatment process and Birm which is a commercial MCS widely used for the removal iron and manganese. The manganese content in each MCS was following order: Birm (63,120 mg/kg) > N-MCS (10,400 mg/kg) >W&D-MCS (5,080 mg/kg) > B-MCS (2,220 mg/kg). Birm showed the least solubility (% basis) in acidic conditions. As(III) oxidation efficiency of B-MCS was continuously increased as the solution pH decreased. While As(III) oxidation efficiency of N-MCS and Birm was minimum around neutral pH. The increased As(III) oxidation efficiency above neutral pH for N-MCS and Birm could be due to the competitive adsorption of $Mn^{2+}$, which was produced from reduction of $MnO_2$, onto the surface of aluminum and manganese oxides.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.215-224
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• 2017

Arsenic (As) is known to be the most toxic element and frequently detected in groundwater environment. Inorganic As exists as arsenite [As(III)] and arsenate [As(V)] in reduced and oxidized environments, respectively. It has been reported that the toxicity of arsenite is much higher than that of arsenate and furthermore arsenite shows relatively higher mobility in aqueous environments. For this reason, there have been numerous researches on the process for oxidation of arsenite to arsenate to reduce the toxicity of arsenic. In particular, photooxidation has been considered to be simple, economical, and efficient to attain such goal. This study was conducted to evaluate the applicability of naturally-occurring goethite as a photocatalyst to substitute for $TiO_2$ which has been mostly used in the photooxidation processes so far. In addition, the effects of several factors on the overall performance of arsenite photocatalytic oxidation process were evaluated. The results show that the efficiency of the process was affected by total concentration of dissolved cations rather than by the kind of those cations and also the relatively higher pH conditions seemed to be more favorable to the process. In the case of coexistence of arsenite and arsenate, the removal tendency by adsorption onto goethite appeared to be different between arsenite and arsenate due to their different affinities with goethite, but any effect on the photocatalytic oxidation of arsenite was not observed. In terms of effect of humic acid on the process, it is likely that the higher concentration of humic acid reduced the overall performance of the arsenite photocatalytic oxidation as a result of competing interaction of activated oxygen species, such as hydroxyl and superoxide radicals, with arsenite and humic acid. In addition, it is revealed that the injection of oxygen gas improved the process because oxygen contributes to arsenite oxidation as an electron acceptor. Based on the results of the study, consequently, the photocatalytic oxidation of aqueous arsenite using goethite seems to be greatly feasible with the optimization of process.