Acid Red 66 Dye Removal from Aqueous Solution by Fe/C-based Composites: Adsorption, Kinetics and Thermodynamic...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Materials Science
• Chemistry

Background:

• Synthetic dyes in wastewater pose significant environmental and health risks.
• Adsorption is a key process for effective wastewater treatment.
• Developing efficient adsorbents is crucial for dye removal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize porous Fe-based composites (FeC and Fe/FeC).
• To evaluate their performance in removing Acid Red 66 dye from aqueous solutions.
• To investigate the adsorption mechanism and capacity of the synthesized materials.

Main Methods:

• Hydrothermal synthesis using iron sulfates and sucrose.
• Characterization using XRD, SEM-EDS, XPS, FTIR, Raman, Mössbauer spectroscopy, BET analysis, EPR, and magnetic measurements.
• Dye adsorption experiments and isotherm modeling (Langmuir model).

Main Results:

• FeC nanocomposite showed well-dispersed Fe3O4 nanoparticles on a carbon layer with magnetic properties.
• Fe/FeC composite featured a γ-Fe2O3 coating on the FeC structure.
• FeC achieved a maximum adsorption capacity of 15.5 mg·g⁻¹ for Acid Red 66 at 25 °C.
• A pristine Fe sample reached a removal efficiency of 98.4% under similar conditions.

Conclusions:

• Porous Fe-based composites are effective adsorbents for Acid Red 66 dye.
• The FeC nanocomposite exhibits excellent adsorption capacity, fitting the Langmuir model.
• These materials offer a viable and efficient method for synthetic dye removal in wastewater treatment.