Abstract
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An investigation on the use of polypyrrole (PPy) as a sorbing agent to remove As (III) and As (V) oxyanions from water is reported. The material was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), electrical conductivity and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The interaction of As (III) and As (V) oxyanions with PPy was assessed by FT-IR and SEM-EDX. Effects of mass, pH and temperature for the removal of As (III) and As (V) from aqueous medium were optimized. The capacity of PPy to remove As (III) and As (V) oxyanions from water was found to be 15.58 and 16.67 mg g−1 respectively. The kinetic studies revealed fast removal mechanism which follows the pseudo-first order. PPy was tested for its efficiency to remove arsenic species from real water samples. The percentage of removal from these samples was 98%. The removal ability of PPy relative to previously reported materials for arsenic oxyanions sequestration from water is discussed.