Synthesis and characterization of γ-Fe2O3/multiwalled carbon nanotube composite and its application on sorptive removal of As(III) from water

Abstract

An attempt has been made for the preparation of γ-Fe2O3/multiwalled carbon nanotube (CNT) composite through a chemical co-precipitation method and prepared nanocomposite then was characterized through different characterization techniques such as, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy Thus γ-Fe2O3/CNT were utilized as nanosorbent for removal of As(III) from water in batch mode adsorption process at different initial As(III) concentration, pH, temperature, and nanosorbent dosage. The parameters were further optimized implementing response surface methodology (RSM) followed by artificial neural network hybridized with genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) approach. The maximum 96.8% of As(III) adsorption was achieved under the finally optimized conditions. Further, adsorption isotherm study was conducted, which showed that fitness of experimental data was well achieved with Langmuir isotherm model illustrating monolayer pattern of adsorption. Thermodynamic study revealed that the process was spontaneous and endothermic in nature, while adsorption kinetics was best explained by pseudo-second order kinetic model. © 2014, Advanced Engineering Solutions (AES.COM) Ottawa, Canada.