Surfactant‐Free One‐Pot Synthesis of Low‐Density Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles for Adsorptive Removal of Arsenic Species

Abstract

Cerium oxide (CeO 2 ) nanoparticles of size 3–5 nm and surface area 257 m 2 g −1 were synthesized using simple, single‐pot, and surfactant‐free aerogel process. Efforts were made to tune the surface area and porosity of CeO 2 nanoparticles by changing the concentration of precursors. CeO 2 nanoparticles were characterized by TEM, SEM, XRD, N 2 ‐BET, and FTIR. Prepared CeO 2 was used to remove As(III) and As(V) from water at variable contaminant concentrations (25–100 ppm) and pH (3–10). The adsorption process found extremely fast for the first few minutes of exposure. CeO 2 nanoparticles indicated adsorption capacities of 71.9 and 36.8 mg g −1 against As(III) and As(V), respectively. The adsorption data best fitted with Redlich–Peterson model, depicting monolayer adsorption. The adsorption followed pseudo‐second‐order kinetics and intraparticle diffusion with three‐step diffusion process. The effect of co‐existing anions (H 2 , , and ) indicated 80–96% reduction in adsorption capacity. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 37: 221–231, 2018