Removal of Antimony from Wastewater

Antimony and its compounds are widely used in various industries, including ceramics, glass, batteries, paints, pyrotechnic materials, and flame retardants. However, the negative impact of this usage on the environment is also on the rise. Antimony pollution is a significant concern both locally and worldwide, making the treatment of wastewater containing antimony a crucial issue.

Several techniques have been developed to prevent environmental damage caused by antimony and to clean wastewater. Chemical precipitation, ion exchange, adsorption, and membrane filtration methods are the primary techniques used to remove antimony from sewage.

Adsorption is an effective separation method commonly employed to remove and recover contaminants in water. Activated carbon is the most widely used material in this method, which is successfully used in water purification due to its large specific surface area and effective pore structure.

However, it has been observed that existing methods need to be improved for antimony adsorption. At this point, studies have shown that ultrasonic waves can significantly increase antimony adsorption. Activated carbon activated by ultrasonic waves can adsorb antimony ions more effectively.

The study aimed to determine the most effective conditions for treating antimony wastewater. The effects of factors such as ultrasonic time, temperature, adsorption time, pH and antimony ratio of activated carbon were examined in the experiments.

In particular, the highest removal rate (95.86%) was obtained under conditions where the ultrasonic time was 20 minutes, the temperature was 40℃, the adsorption time was 60 minutes, the pH was 2 and the antimony ratio of the activated carbon was 1mg Sb/g.

In particular, the highest removal rate (95.86%) was obtained under conditions where the ultrasonic time was 20 minutes, the temperature was 40℃, the adsorption time was 60 minutes, the pH was 2 and the antimony ratio of the activated carbon was 1mg Sb/g.