Nickel ferrite bearing nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon as efficient adsorbent for the removal of highly toxic metal ion from aqueous medium.

Nickel ferrite bearing nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon (NiFe 2 O 4 -NC) was prepared using polymer bimetal complexes and used for the removal of Hg 2+ from aqueous medium. The nanocomposite was characterized using several analytical techniques such as SEM, TEM, FTIR, Raman, TGA/DTA, XRD, VSM, XPS and BET. The adsorption behavior of NiFe 2 O 4 -NC nanocomposites was investigated via adsorption kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamic. The adsorption isotherm could be well described with Langmuir model, with the maximum adsorption capacity of 476.2 mg g −1 at 25 °C. The desorption results showed the best recovery of Hg 2+ metal ion using 0.01 M HCl. The remarkable adsorption properties are mainly attributed to the synergetic chemical coupling effects between NiFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles and nitrogen doped graphitized carbon. The presented cost-effective strategy is developed to prepared NiFe 2 O 4 nanocrystals embedded in nitrogen-doped graphitized carbon matrix using a single source precursor offers prospects in developing highly effective magnetic adsorbent for removal of toxic pollutant form contaminated water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]