Preparation and Characterization of Magnetite-Silica Nano-Composite as Adsorbents for Removal of Methylene Blue Dyes from Environmental Water Samples

Magnetite-silica nanocomposites (Fe3O4/SiO2) have been synthesized and characterized and were used as an effective sorbent material for dyes removal from environmental water samples. They were prepared by a simple procedure via a co precipitation of iron (II) and iron (III) ion mixture in ammonium hydroxide and then was impregnated by a sodium silicate. The prepared samples were characterized using Zeta potential, XRD, VSM, TEM, EDS, and porosity analysis. The result of characterization showed that Fe3O4 nanoparticles have been coated by silica. The composite have been superparamagnetic behaviour at room temperature and contain both meso-and microporosity system. Mesoporosity contributes dominantly to the pore volume. Adsorption performance of magnetic-silica nanoparticles were examined its ability to adsorp methylene blue dye in aqueous solution. The 20 mg/L of initial concentration of methelene blue, 1 gr/L adsorbent in solution and under shakker for 5 hour, the remain of methylene blue in solution was 13,3% for Fe3O4/SiO2 (3:1), 30,2% for Fe3O4/SiO2 (2:1) and 24,2 % for Fe3O4/SiO2 (1:1). The composite was effective to adsorb dyes in water and can be easily recovered from treated water with helping of magnetic bar.