CoFe2O4@HaP as Magnetic Heterostructures for Sustainable Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

The aim of this study was to synthesize a CoFe2O4@HaP nanocomposite (HaP-Hydroxyapatite) through the coprecipitation method in aqueous solution, with the purpose of using it in adsorption processes for the removal of Congo Red dye from aqueous solutions. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to characterize the synthesized material, identifying absorption bands specific to the functional groups of cobalt ferrite (Fe-O and Co-O at 603 and 472 cm−1) and hydroxyapatite PO43− at 1035, 962, 603 and 565 cm−1. Powder X-ray diffraction confirmed the cubic spinel structure of cobalt ferrite (S.G Fd-3m) and the hexagonal structure of hydroxyapatite (S.G P63/m). The nanocomposite’s crystallite size was calculated to be 57.88 nm. Nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms and BET specific surface area measurements were used to monitor textural parameters, revealing an increase in specific BET surface area when cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (15 m2/g) were introduced into the hydroxyapatite heterostructure (34 m2/g). Magnetic properties were investigated by interpreting hysteresis curves in the ±10 kOe range, with the nanocomposite showing a saturation magnetization of 34.83 emu/g and a coercivity value of 0.03 kOe. The adsorption capacity of the CoFe2O4@HaP nanocomposite is up to 15.25 mg/g and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (Type 1) fits the data with a high correlation coefficient of 0.9984, indicating that the chemical adsorption determines the rate-determining step of the process. The obtained nanocomposite is confirmed by the analyses, and the absorption measurements demonstrate that it can be utilized to degrade Congo Red dye.