Excellent organic dye adsorption capacity and recyclability of hydrothermally synthesized α-Fe2O3 nanoplates and nanorices
Pham Kim Ngoc, Trung Kien Mac, Hữu Tuấn Nguyễn, Do Thanh Viet, Trần Đăng Thành, Phạm Văn Vĩnh, Thắng Bách Phan, Anh Tuan Duong, Raja Das
Abstract
α-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 nanoplates and nanorices were synthesized by hydrothermal reaction and used for organic pollutant adsorption and removal studies. The effect of size and morphology of α-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 nanoplates and nanorices on the dye adsorption efficiency were investigated systematically. The adsorption studies showed a good selectivity and high adsorption capacity (~93%) of the α-Fe2O3 nanoplates towards congo red (C.R.) dye, due to the formation of hydrogen bonding between amine group (─ NH2) of C.R. and surface carboxylate group (─ COOH), and adsorbed ─ OH groups of α-Fe2O3 nanoplates. The α-Fe2O3 nanoplates also showed excellent recyclability with negligible loss of the adsorption capacity, owing to their stable morphology and crystal structure. The excellent C.R. adsorption capacity of the α-Fe2O3 nanoplates was further confirmed by conducting experiments with a solution containing a mixture of dyes. Our findings indicate that the synthesized α-Fe2O3 nanoplates have a great potential in removing industrial waste, such as C.R. from polluted water.