Preparation of activated carbon (AC)‐loaded TiO ₂ adsorbent

Abstract Titanium dioxide is an effective adsorbent on the removal of arsenic from drinking water. Using three different methods: (a) directly using TiOSO ₄ solution, (b) using the precursor of TiO ₂ , (c) using TiO ₂ sol‐gel, one composite adsorbent was synthesized by loading titanium dioxide on activated carbon (TiO ₂ /AC) with titanyl sulfate (TiOSO ₄ ) and activated carbon as raw materials. The phase compositions and morphology of the adsorbent were characterized by using XRD and SEM. According to the TG/DTA results of TiOSO ₄ , it is easy to see that there is no TiO ₂ crystalline phase appears below 400 °C, and only anatase phase can be found at 400–700 °C. The presence of SO ₄ ²⁻ restrained the transformation of anatase to rutile. The TiO ₂ loading on the AC surface is anatase phase by using the precursor of TiO ₂ and TiO ₂ sol‐gel, when the calcination temperature is 400 °C. At the same time, the distribution of TiO ₂ is more uniform and immobilized on the AC surface by using TiO ₂ sol‐gel than using other two methods.