Evaluation of the Efficiency of a Recyclable Magnetic Nickel Ferrite Adsorbent for Removing a Dye Pollutant from Aqueous Media
Subject Areas : Water and wastewater technology
Seyedeh Bahareh Azimi
1
,
Zahra Monsef Khoshhesab
2
,
Zahra Ayazi
3
1 - Research group of Environmental risks and Assessment, Research Center for Environment and Sustainable Development (RCESD), Department of Environment (DOE), Iran.
2 - Department of Chemistry, Payame Noor University, Qazvin, Iran.
3 - Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Shahid Madani University of Azerbaijan, Tabriz, Iran.
Keywords: Wastewater treatment, Adsorption process, Magnetic nanoparticles, Nickel ferrit,
Abstract :
In this study, a magnetic nickel ferrite adsorbent was synthesized, characterized, and used for dye removal from an aqueous medium through adsorption. To this end, the effects of various parameters, including initial dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, contact time, and solution pH, were investigated, modeled, and optimized using experimental design. Furthermore, the kinetics of the process were studied based on pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order equations, and the conformity of the process to the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms was evaluated. Characterization of the synthesized adsorbent revealed that the magnetic nanoparticles had an average size of 18 conformity nm. Modeling and optimization of the process were carried out using response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD). The results showed that under optimal conditions, i.e., an initial dye concentration of 110 mg/L, a contact time of 90 min, an adsorbent dosage of 0.05 g, and pH = 3, the equilibrium adsorption capacity was 3.76 mg/g (equivalent to 93.2% dye removal efficiency). Therefore, considering the dye structure and the type of adsorbent used, the removal efficiency was higher under acidic conditions. The study of adsorption kinetics and isotherms indicated that the process followed pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm, and based on the Langmuir equation, the maximum dye adsorption capacity was 21.1 mg/g. Due to the magnetic nature of the adsorbent, it can be easily separated from the aqueous medium at the end of the process with minimal cost.
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