Fabrication of MgFe₂O₄/polyaniline nanocomposite for amputation of methyl red dye from water: Isotherm modeling, kinetic and cost analysis

Abstract

Several industries utilize synthetic dyes to color their products, resulting in generation of wastewater containing strong-colored organics. The discharge of these toxic dyes into effluents has adverse effects both on human being and aquatic ecosystem. As a result, it is important to eliminate these dyes prior to discharge of wastewater into the aquatic system. Polyaniline (PANI) based novel nanocomposites are gaining popularity due to the tunable electrical conductivity, high surface area, eco-friendly nature, which illustrate PANI based nanocomposites as suitable materials for wastewater amputation. Thus in this research, a novel nanocomposite comprising of magnesium ferrite and PANI (MgFe₂O₄-PANI-NC) was successfully prepared and used for adsorptive elimination of methyl red (MR) dye from water. The developed nanocomposite could efficiently remove the methyl red (MR) dye from water at solution pH of 7.0 which is advantageous for safe disposal of treated effluent without further treatment. The highest MR dye uptake efficiency of 90.23(±1.55)% was achieved at initial MR dye concentration of 50 mg/L, MgFe₂O₄-PANI-NC dose of 1.0 g/L, and contact time of 30 min. The experimental data follow the pseudo-second-order kinetic model accurately and isotherm modeling reveals the adsorption of MR dye onto the MgFe₂O₄-PANI-NC follows Langmuir model with maximum dye uptake capacity of 98.04 mg/g. The cost analysis revealed that the fabrication cost of MgFe₂O₄-PANI-NC is around $100.60/kg. After 5^th consecutive cycle of repetitive use, the removal efficiency of MR dye drops from 90.23(±2.02) % to 80.52(±1.39) % which shows the high stability and reusable characteristics MgFe₂O₄-PANI-NC for real field application.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• MgFe₂O₄ nanoparticle
• polyaniline
• methyl red dye
• isotherm and kinetic modeling
• cost analysis

Acknowledgment

This research was assisted by the central research facility (CRF) of NIT Agartala in the form of XRD measurement.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support for this research was obtained from Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India (Grant No. 22/0744/17/EMR-II).