Synthesis of magnetic carbon composite by diesel engine and its application to dye removal

Abstract

We report a one-step and efficient method to synthesize magnetic diesel particles (MDPs) and their application toward dye removal. The MDPs were obtained by the combustion of ferrocene-doped diesel fuel using an internal combustion engine. The diesel particles combined with ferrocene as a metal source were collected by an electrostatic precipitator. The thermogravimetric analysis confirmed the ferrocene-based catalyst and thermal stability of MDPs. FE-SEM showed irregular and aggregated morphologies, and the presence of iron oxide phases (Fe₄O₃ and γ-Fe₂O₃) was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The characteristics of MDPs as an adsorbent for organic pollutants were evaluated by methylene blue (MB) adsorption experiments. Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order models best interpret the adsorption process and kinetics, respectively, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 40.81 mg/g of MB adsorbed on the surface of magnetic diesel particles.

Keywords:

• Adsorption
• dye removal
• ferrocene
• IC engine
• magnetic nanoparticles
• piston reactor

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge that the analyses of SEM, EDX, CHN, and XRD were supported by Materials Analysis Division, Open Facility Center at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Disclosure statement of interests

All authors have seen and approved the final, submitted version of this manuscript.

The authors declare no competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Number 18H01566).