Characterization of Fe5(AsO3)3Cl2(OH)4·5H2O, a new ferric arsenite hydroxychloride precipitated from FeCl3–As2O3–HCl solutions relevant to arsenic immobilization

Tooeleite(Fe6(As03)4 SO4(OH)4·4 H_2 O) is widely precipitated for direct As(III) removal from sulfate-rich industrial effluents.However,whether or not Fe(III)-As(III)-Cl(-I) precipitate is produced in chloridizing leaching media for As immobilization is almost unknown.This work founded the existence of ferric arsenite(hydroxy)chloride as a new mineral for As(III)removal.Its chemical composition and solid characterization were subsequently studied by using scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive spectrometer(SEM-EDS),X-ray diffraction(XRD),infrared(FT-IR),Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric(TG)curve.The results showed the formation of a yellow precipitate after 3-days reaction of Fe(III)/As(III) with molar ratio≈1.7 in chloride solution at pH 2.3 neutralized with NaOH.Compared with tooeleite,chemical analysis and solid characterization indicated that Cl(-I)replaces S04(-II) producing ferric arsenite hydroxychloride with formula Fe5(As03)_3-Cl_2(OH)4·5 H_2 O.This new plate shaped solid showed better crytallinity than tooeleite,although it has similar morphology and characteristic bands to tooeleite.The FT-IR bands at 628,964 cm-1 and the Raman bands at 448,610,961 cm-1 were assigned to Fe-O or As(Ⅲ)-O-Fe or As(Ⅲ)-O bending/stretching vibration,indicating that both arsenite and chloride substituted for the position of sulfate for ferric arsenite hydro xychloride produced due to the lack of the SO_4~(2-) vibrations.Cl-(I) also contributed to increase As removal efficiency in aqueous sulfate media under acidic pH conditions via the probable formation of sulfatechloride ferric arsenite.