Simultaneous roxarsone photocatalytic degradation and arsenic adsorption removal by TiO2/FeOOH hybrid

Roxarsone (3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenylarsonic acid) is an extensively used organoarsenic feed additive. The effective removal of arsenic from roxarsone degradation before discharging is of great importance for controlling artificial arsenic pollution in aquatic environment. In this study, a bifunctional TiO2/ferrihydrite (TiO2/FeOOH) hybrid was synthesized by a hydrothermal method for the simultaneously photocatalytic degradation of roxarsone and adsorption removal of released arsenic. The analysis of the prepared TiO2/FeOOH by field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectra, X-ray diffraction (XRD), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed the successful formation of the hybrid of crystalline TiO2 and no crystalline FeOOH. TiO2/FeOOH hybrid had better adsorption capacity for As(V) than roxarsone. Compared to TiO2, the TiO2/FeOOH hybrid exhibited much superior UV-driven photocatalytic activities for roxarsone degradation. After 12 h irradiation, more than 96% of roxarsone was degraded by 1:1 TiO2/FeOOH hybrid, and the released As(V) was simultaneously removed from the solution. The residual As(V) concentration was lower than 0.02 mg L−1. The reusability test indicated that TiO2/FeOOH hybrid had excellent stability and reliability. The possible mechanism of roxarsone degradation and released inorganic arsenics removal by this hybrid was also proposed. These results clearly indicated that the TiO2/FeOOH hybrid could be used for the removal of roxarsone and its degradation product.