commercially available activated carbons have two major shortcomings
that considerably constrain their practical usefulness
on a large scale. The first is that the commercially available
activated carbons are too expensive for practical use. Bailey et
al. [12] have presented an interesting review, which focuses on
the potential of a wide variety of low cost sorbents for heavy
metals. According to these authors, a low cost sorbent can be
assumed if it requires less prior processing, is abundant in nature,
or is either a by-product or waste material from another industry.
These materials could be alternatives for expensive treatment
processes. The second is that the activated carbons have only
single one adsorption function. They could not be used as the
chemical reaction catalyst for organic compounds.
Recently, there is growing interest in low-cost, highsurface-area
materials, especially metal oxides and their unique
applications, including not only adsorption but also chemical
catalysis. Iron oxide has a relatively high surface area and
charge; many researchers have applied iron oxide as adsorbent
to treat heavy metals and organic compounds from wastewater
[13–17]. This study explores an activated alumina-supported
iron oxide-composite material (FeAA), which is a by-product of
the FBR-Fenton reaction [18,19], for use in the treatment of the
bioeffluent of tannery wastewater from a dyeing/finishing plant
in Taiwan. The FeAA has successfully been as heterogeneous