Efficient adsorption of basic fuchsin dye using thermally engineered novel smart nanocomposites
Ehab A. Abdelrahman
Abstract
Basic fuchsin dye is known for its genotoxic, neurotoxic, and carcinogenic effects on humans and its long-term persistence and ecological toxicity in aquatic environments. In this study, novel MgO/BaCO 3 /BaCrO 4 /C nanocomposites were fabricated through a Pechini-type sol-gel strategy and thermally treated at 600 and 800 o C to yield MB600 and MB800, respectively, for the effective adsorption of basic fuchsin from water-based solutions. The crystalline phases were identified using X-ray diffraction patterns, indicating the formation of crystalline MgO, BaCO 3 , and BaCrO 4 phases, with average crystallite sizes of 60.70 and 75.64 nm for MB600 and MB800, respectively. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed the atomic composition, with MB600 containing 21.3% C, 51.1% O, 10.2% Mg, 2.8% Cr, and 14.6% Ba, while MB800 showed enhanced metal content and reduced carbon residues. Field emission scanning electron microscope and high-resolution transmission electron microscope micrographs demonstrated morphological evolution with increasing calcination temperature and average particle sizes of 13.7 and 32.1 nm for MB600 and MB800, respectively. MB600 exhibited a maximum adsorption capacity of 442.48 mg/g, outperforming MB800 at 375.94 mg/g. The sorption mechanism was spontaneous, exothermic, physisorption, and best described by the pseudo-first-order model in addition to the Langmuir isotherm, demonstrating monolayer coverage and uniform surface binding.