Abstract
This study was aimed at employing response surface methodology (RSM) for optimization of process variables and identifying optimal conditions for the adsorption of bromate (BrO3-) from contaminated water using multi-walled carbon nanotubes, based on iron hydr(oxide), Fe-CNTs nanocomposite. Fifteen experimental runs were conducted in batch mode to study the effect of individual as well as interactive process variables, i.e., pH, BrO3- initial concentration, and adsorbent dose, on the removal of BrO3- using Box-Behnken design (BBD) of RSM. The coefficient of determination (R-2) at 98.34% indicated a good agreement between actual and predicted values. The main effect and contour plot were drawn to obtain the independent and interactive effect of operational variables on BrO3- uptake. A process optimization curve was drawn to determine the optimum operating conditions that lead to a desirable response. The optimum conditions for BrO3- adsorption using Fe-CNTs nanocomposite were found to be pH 2.0, initial BrO3- concentration of 10.0 mg/L, and adsorbent dose of 0.010 g per 50 mL solution.