Facile synthesis of FeFe2O4 magnetic nanomaterial for removing methylene blue from aqueous solution

A facile and simple chemical precipitation method was utilized to synthesize FeFe2O4 magnetic nanomaterial for removing methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution. Characterizations of this material were examined by using XRD, SEM, FT-IR, TGA-DTG and BET methods. Factors affecting the uptake of methylene blue, including pH, adsorption time, and MB initial concentration were also studied. The measured data were fitted by using four isotherm models including Langmuir, Freundlich, Sips and Temkin. Results showed that the Sips model offers the best fit to the data. In addition, the monolayer MB adsorption capacity obtained from the Langmuir model was 42.35 mg g−1 under the optimal conditions of pH = 10 and adsorption time = 80 min. In particular, the uptake of MB onto FeFe2O4 magnetic nanomaterial obtained from the kinetic and mechanism studies of the adsorption was in good agreement with prediction of the pseudo-first-order model, whereas the electrostatic interaction was found to play a primary mechanism. Keywords: FeFe2O4 magnetic nanomaterial, Adsorption, Methylene blue, Adsorption mechanism