Synthesis, Characterization, and Adsorptive Properties of Fe(3)O(4)/GO Nanocomposites for Antimony Removal

A magnetic Fe(3)O(4)/GO composite with potential for rapid solid-liquid separation through a magnetic field was synthesized using GO (graphene oxide) and Fe(3)O(4) (ferriferous oxide). Characterization of Fe(3)O(4)/GO used scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), and Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). A number of factors such as pH and coexisting ions on adsorbent dose were tested in a series of batch experiments. The results showed that GO and Fe(3)O(4) are strongly integrated. For pH values in the range of 3.0~9.0, the removal efficiency of Sb(III) using the synthesized Fe(3)O(4)/GO remained high (95%). The adsorption showed good fit to a pseudo-second-order and Langmiur model, with the maximum adsorption capacity of 9.59 mg/g maintained across pH 3.0–9.0. Thermodynamic parameters revealed that the adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic. Analysis by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that the adsorption process is accompanied by a redox reaction.