FeNi3@SiO2@CuS magnetic nanocomposite: synthesizing, characterization, and application for methylene blue adsorption
Negin Nasseh, Tariq J. Al-Musawi, Rasoul Khosravi, Ayat Hossein Panahi, Fatemeh Sadat Arghavan, Behnam Barikbin
Abstract
ABSTRACT A novel magnetic nanocomposite adsorbent formed from the coating FeNi 3 nanoparticles with SiO 2 nanoparticles, and then with CuS nanoparticles (FeNi 3 @SiO 2 @CuS) was successfully synthesized and then applied, for the first time, for eradicating methylene blue (MB) dye-laden waste-water. An adsorptive performance test were conducted using a batch system with variations of several water quality parameters, including pH, contact time, MB concentration, FeNi 3 @SiO 2 @CuS dose, and competitor NaCl concentration. The characterization study using transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer approaches demonstrated that FeNi 3 @SiO 2 @CuS has a number of favorable morphological, physiochemical, and adsorptive properties which make it a potential adsorbent toward organic pollutants. The equilibrium analysis of non-linear fit method revealed that the Langmuir equation was the best model for the representation of isothermal data, where the maximum uptake reached 24.457 mg/g. The kinetic adsorption behavior of methylene blue on FeNi 3 @SiO 2 @CuS obeyed the pseudo-second-order kinetics. The nature of the adsorption was also endothermic and spontaneous, as the thermodynamic study revealed. During the adsorption experiments, FeNi 3 @SiO 2 @CuS magnetic nanocomposite exhibited an excellent adsorption capacity toward MB molecules, where the maximum removal efficiency of 85.21% was recorded at pH = 12, contact time = 180 min, initial MB concentration = 20 mg/L, and FeNi 3 @SiO 2 @CuS dose = 2 g/L. It was also found that NaCl presence had a negative impact on that efficiency. The mechanism of MB interaction with FeNi 3 @SiO 2 @ CuS involved both chemical and physical adsorption processes. Results of this study unraveled that the adsorption process using FeNi 3 @SiO 2 @CuS as an adsorptive agent could be a promising treatment technology for the removal of MB dye from high alkaline wastewater.