Preparation, microstructure and dye adsorption behavior of nanostructured FeTiO3 with a magnetic recovery capacity

Abstract

Two different morphologies of FeTiO3 (nanopowders and nanosheets) were synthesized for the selective and efficient removal of Congo red and methylene blue dyes. The FeTiO3 samples were extensively performed by XRD, TEM, EDS, XPS, BET, UV-Vis, zeta potential, FTIR, and VSM analysis. The experimental data showed that FeTiO3 nanopowders (FTO-P) and FeTiO3 nanosheets (FTO-S) were mesoporous, and each had CR adsorption quantity of 110.68[Formula: see text]mg/g and 95.33[Formula: see text]mg/g, respectively. Although FTO-S had an excellent adsorption of 76.87[Formula: see text]mg/g for MB, FTO-P showed almost no MB adsorption. The studies indicated that adsorption conform to pseudo-second-order model. The electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding were deemed to the mainly adsorption mechanism. The magnetic properties of samples facilitated their recovery from solution after adsorption. The study shows that FeTiO3 was an excellent adsorbent due to its remarkable and selective adsorption performance and easy magnetic separation from aqueous solution.