Synthesis of Nano-Magnetite from Industrial Mill Chips for the Application of Boron Removal: Characterization and Adsorption Efficacy

Mohammed Umar Abba, Hasfalina Che Man, Raba’ah Syahidah Azis, Aida Isma Idris, Muhammad Hazwan Hamzah and Mohammed Abdulsalam
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Mohammed Umar Abba: Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Hasfalina Che Man: Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Raba’ah Syahidah Azis: Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Selangor Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Aida Isma Idris: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Segi Universiti Malaysia, Petaling Jaya, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Muhammad Hazwan Hamzah: Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Mohammed Abdulsalam: Department of Agricultural and Bio-Resources, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria 810107, Nigeria

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-18

Abstract: The present study synthesized nano-magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) from milled steel chips using the high energy ball milling (HEBM) method, characterized it, and then utilized it as a sorbent to remediate boron concentration at various pH (4–9), dosages (0.1–0.5 g), contact times (20–240 min), and initial concentrations (10–100 mg/L). The nano-sorbents were characterized based on SEM structure, elemental composition (EDX), surface area analysis (BET), crystallinity (XRD), and functional group analysis (FTIR). The highest adsorption capacity of 8.44 mg/g with removal efficiency of 84% was attained at pH 8, 0.5 g dosage, contact time of 180 min, and 50 mg/L initial concentration. The experimental data fit best with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model with R 2 of 0.998, while the Freundlich adsorption isotherm describes the adsorption process with an R 2 value of 0.9464. A regeneration efficiency of 47% was attained even after five cycles of reusability studies. This efficiency implies that the nano-magnetite has the potential for sustainable industrial application.

Keywords: nano-magnetite; boron; adsorption; regeneration; isotherm; kinetics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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