Development of efficient magnetic Fe₂O₃-activated Bakelite nanocomposite as an adsorbent for removal of Victoria blue dye from water

ABSTRACT

The present study discusses the prospect of utilising a waste plastic material in the development of novel technological materials for sustainable environmental applications. Novel Fe₂O₃-activated Bakelite nanocomposite was synthesised using a waste Bakelite (WB) material by employing the chemical precipitation technique. The surface, magnetic and textural properties of the as-prepared nanocomposite were investigated by FTIR, TEM, XRD, BET, VSM and N₂ isotherm analysis. TEM micrograph showed that small beads of Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were evenly dispersed and decorated over porous carbon matrix. The saturation-magnetisation value was found to 18.34 emu g⁻¹, which is sufficient for magnetic separation in wastewater treatment. The prepared composite was explored for the removal of a textile dye, Victoria Blue (VB) from an aqueous solution. Effects of contact time, initial solution pH, adsorbent dose and adsorbate concentration over percentage removal were investigated. The adsorbent showed excellent adsorption performance for Victoria blue and exhibited adsorption efficiency upto 92% within 3 h with adsorption capacity of 52.63 mg/g. Furthermore, the adsorbent can be easily regenerated and reused multiple times without much losing adsorption efficiency. Moreover, the adsorption process followed the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetics. Overall, efficient adsorption capacity and reusability of the synthesised Fe₂O₃-activated Bakelite nanocomposite make it a better adsorbent for the environmental remediation of wastewater.

KEYWORDS:

• Waste Bakelite
• Fe₂o₃-Activated Bakelite nanocomposite
• Victoria blue dye
• adsorption

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).