Optimisation led energy-efficient arsenite and arsenate adsorption on various materials with machine learning

The contamination of water by arsenic (As) poses a substantial environmental challenge with far-reaching influence on human health. Accurately predicting adsorption capacities of arsenite (As(III)) and arsenate (As(V)) on different materials is crucial for the remediation and reuse of contaminated water. Nonetheless, predicting the optimal As adsorption on various materials while considering process energy consumption continues to pose a persistent challenge. Literature data regarding the As adsorption on diverse materials were collected and employed to train machine learning models (ML), such as CatBoost, XGBoost, and LGBoost. These models were utilized to predict both As(III) and As(V) adsorption on a variety of materials using their reaction parameters, structural properties, and composition. The CatBoost model exhibited superior accuracy, achieving a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.99 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.24 for As(III), and an R² of 0.99 and RMSE of 5.50 for As(V). The initial As(III) and As(V) concentrations were proved to be the primary factors influencing adsorption, accounting for 27.9% and 26.6% of the variance for As(III) and As(V) individually. The genetic optimization led optimisation process, considering the low energy consumption, determined maximum adsorption capacities of 291.66 mg/g for As(III) and 271.56 mg/g for As(V), using C-Layered Double Hydroxide with reduced graphene oxide and chitosan combined with rice straw biochar, respectively. To further facilitate the process design for different real-life applications, the trained ML models are embedded into a web-app that the user can use to estimate the As(III) and As(V) adsorption under different design conditions. The utilization of ML for the energy-efficient As(III) and As(V) adsorption is deemed essential for advancing the treatment of inorganic As in aquatic settings. This approach facilitates the identification of optimal adsorption conditions for As in various material-amended waters, while also enabling the timely detection of As-contaminated water.