Arsenic removal from water employing heterogeneous photocatalysis with TiO2 immobilized in PET bottles

Arsenic oxidation (As(III) to As(V)) and As(V) removal from water were assessed by using TiO2 immobilized in PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles in the presence of natural sunlight and iron salts. The effect of many parameters was sequentially studied: TiO2 concentration of the coating solution, Fe(II) concentration, pH, solar irradiation time; dissolved organic carbon concentration. The final conditions (TiO2 concentration of the coating solution: 10%; Fe(II): 7.0 mg l−1; solar exposure time: 120 min) were applied to natural water samples spiked with 500 μg l−1 As(III) in order to verify the influence of natural water matrix. After treatment, As(III) and total As concentrations were lower than the limit of quantitation (2 μg l−1) of the voltammetric method used, showing a removal over 99%, and giving evidence that As(III) was effectively oxidized to As(V). The results obtained demonstrated that TiO2 can be easily immobilized on a PET surface in order to perform As(III) oxidation in water and that this TiO2 immobilization, combined with coprecipitation of arsenic on Fe(III) hydroxides(oxides) could be an efficient way for inorganic arsenic removal from groundwaters.