AQUEOUS ARSENIC REMOVAL USING NOVEL CARBON ADSORBENTS THAT ARE DERIVED FROM WASTE ALGAE

Human exposure to arsenic from natural as well as anthropogenic sources can lead to a detrimental impact to the nervous system, cardiovascular system and can also cause cancer. Historical agricultural runoff has led to an accumulation of arsenic in groundwater and soils around Lake Okeechobee and many golf courses in Florida. This research involved studying the removal of aqueous arsenic via adsorption using activated carbon derived from algae. Carbon derived from Sargassum removed 41.47% of arsenic after a contact time of 2 hours. Adsorbents created from blue-green algae showed essentially no arsenic removal under the same conditions. Various chemical additives were tested to improve arsenic adsorption as well. Modification of the adsorbent surface with magnesium chloride demonstrated an arsenic removal efficiency of 98.6% when added to commercial activated carbon. However, when magnesium chloride was used to modify the surface of Sargassum-derived carbon adsorbents, the arsenic removal efficiency after 2 hours was 26.7%. It is recommended to investigate other surface modification agents that can potentially improve adsorption of arsenic. ; Includes bibliography. ; Thesis (MS)--Florida Atlantic University, 2022. ; FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection