A novel polymeric nanocomposite hydrogel adsorbent was developed to enhance the efficiency of arsenic removal from apatite soil leachate. Apatite soil aqueous leachate was treated with nanoscale zero-valent iron embedded on polyaniline reinforced with sodium alginate hydrogel beads. Various analytical techniques including attenuated total reflection -Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were employed to characterize these chemically synthesized hydrogel beads. The influence of different types and ratios of adsorbent materials, solution pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, temperature, initial arsenic concentration, and the presence of co-existing ions on the adsorption process were investigated. Under optimum operating conditions
a pH range of 4-6, 80 mg of sorbent, 180 min contact time led to a remarkable arsenic removal efficiency of approximately 90.33 %. Thermodynamic, adsorption isotherm, and kinetic models provided a good description of the observed experimental results. Compared to the Freundlich and Temkin models, the Langmuir model was found to be the best fit for the experimental data, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 104.167 mg/g. Physical adsorption is mainly responsible for controlling the adsorption of arsenic ions onto the hydrogel. Thermodynamic studies verified that the adsorption process was endothermic and spontaneous.