SUMMARY

• Cadmium (Cd) and arsenate (As) are serious environmental contaminants that typically require opposing treatment strategies due to their contrasting physicochemical properties, making co-contamination scenarios particularly challenging to remediate.
• This study compared RemBind® with two prepared graphene materials, graphene oxide (GO) and iron-oxide-modified reduced graphene oxide (FeG), for their ability to simultaneously sorb both Cd and As from co-contaminated solutions.
• A mixture of GO and FeG successfully achieved simultaneous sorption of both Cd and As from co-contaminated solutions, including a real natural water sample.
• RemBind®, representing a mixed-mode single-dose reagent, performed similarly to the mixture of GO and FeG and is expected to be very favourable from a cost-benefit viewpoint, as it is a single dose reagent containing relatively inexpensive mineral constituents.
• The study highlights the potential of mixed-mode reagents like RemBind® for effective remediation of sites co-contaminated with both cationic and anionic contaminants.