Synthesis and application of calixarene-based functional material for arsenic removal from water

The present article represents synthesis and As(III) sorption behavior of a novel calix[4]arene-appended functional material (DE-4 resin). The sorption ability of DE-4 resin has been evaluated at wide range of pH, i.e., pH 2–14. It has been observed that the DE-4 resin possesses greater interaction for As(III) with maximum sorption capacity (88 % at pH 4). Column sorption mechanism was studied through various parameters, i.e., change in concentration, flow rate, and bed heights. The results obtained by changing these parameters were compared with the theoretically calculated. From the results it has been observed that DE-4 resin has maximum column efficiency of 412 μg g 1. Thermal behavior of the synthesized DE-4 resin was examined at various temperatures from 298 to 338 K, which shows that column efficiency increases with increase in temperature. From the DSC study it has been observed that DE-4 resin is stable up to 439 K. Concerning regeneration ability DE-4 resin was found to be regenerable and best regeneration was achieved using 5 % solution of HNO3/NaOH. It can be deduced from the study that the resin will find its applicability in small as well as industrial-scale water purification plants.