2. Material and methods
2.1. Adsorbent (FeAA) and solutions preparation
A novel and low cost adsorbent, iron oxide on an activated
alumina support, was developed in the the FBR-Fenton reaction
[21]. Deionized and doubly distilled water were used throughout
this investigation. By dissolving lead nitrate in deionized water,
we obtained the lead containing stock solution (1000 mg dm−3),
which was further diluted to the required concentrations before
being used.
2.2. Characterization of FeAA
Physico-chemical characteristics of the FeAA were determined
using standard procedures. Some properties of the FeAA
are shown in Table 1. Furthermore, X-ray diffraction (XRD),
Fourier transform infrared spectroscope (FTIR) and scanning
electron microscope (SEM) analyses of FeAA were carried out
in this study. XRD powder diffraction measurement of FeAA
was performed on a powder diffractometer (Rigaku RX III)
equipped with a Cu K radiation. The accelerating voltage and
current were 40 kV and 20 mA. A small portion of FeAA was
finely ground and then pressed (in vacumm) in the form of a disc
using spectroscopically pure dry KBr. The FTIR spectrum was
recorded at room temperature using a Bio-Rad FTS-40A. The
morphology of the activated alumina grain support and FeAA
were described using Hitachi S-4100 and Philips XL-40FEG
SEM. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area and
porosity of the iron oxide were obtained from the data of the
isotherms. The surface area of the iron oxide was calculated
using the BET equation.
Table 1
Properties of the FeAA (Hsueh et al. [20])
Parameter Value
Total iron content of FeAA (g kg−1) 304
Bulk density (g cm−3) 1.43
Absolute (true) density (g cm−3) 2.66
Specific surface area (m2 g−1) 170
Total pore volume (cm3 g−1) 0.12
Cation exchange capacities (meq g−1) 0.47
pKa1 6.03
pKa2 8.67
pHpzc (point of zero charge)a 7.35
a pHpzc = (pKa1 + pKa2)/2.