Removal of Humic Acids (HAs) in Drinking Water by Adsorption onto Polysulfone/Fe2O3 Mixed Matrix Membrane: Study kinetics and Isotherm Analysis

The present study delineates the applicability of polysulfone/ X% Fe2O3 mixed matrix membranes as a low-cost and non-toxic natural adsorbent. It was used to remove humic acids (HAs) rapidly from aqueous solutions. The polysulfone/ X% Fe2O3 mixed matrix membranes were characterized by BET, FT-IR, XRD, and SEM. The humic acids (HAs) removal by the developed adsorbent was investigated using the batch adsorption technique and all parameters influencing the removal efficiency such as dose of adsorbent and pH were considered. The optimal conditions for the humic acids (HAs) removal were found to be 5, 120-160 min, 10 mg/L, and 0.1 g for pH, contact time and adsorbent dosage respectively. The rapid adsorption of the humic acids (HAs) is an advantage of this adsorbent. The adsorption capacity of humic acids (HAs) onto polysulfone/ X% Fe2O3 mixed matrix membrane was reasonably constant in the pH range of 5–7 but decreased as the pH exceeded 5. Various isotherm models were used to fit the experimental equilibrium data. Equilibrium data obtained have been fitted to the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin–Radushkevich adsorption isotherms. Langmuir's model best fits the experimental results. Kinetic modeling showed that the pseudo-second-order equation was the most appropriate for the description of humic acids (HAs) for PSF, PSF/5% Fe2O3, and PSF/10% Fe2O3 mixed matrix membrane were found to be 13.333, 10.309, and 7.874 mg/g, respectively. The overall results confirmed that polysulfone/ X% Fe2O3 mixed matrix membrane could be a promising adsorbent material for humic acids (HAs) removal from aqueous solutions