Core-shell Fe(3)O(4)@zeolite NaA as an Adsorbent for Cu(2+)

Here, using Fe(3)O(4)@SiO(2) as a precursor, a novel core-shell structure magnetic Cu(2+) adsorbent (Fe(3)O(4)@zeolite NaA) was successfully prepared. Several methods, namely X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), Transmission electron microscope (TEM), Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) were used to characterize the adsorbent. A batch experiment was conducted to study the Cu(2+) adsorption capacity of Fe(3)O(4)@zeolite NaA at different pH values, contact time, initial Cu(2+) concentration and adsorbent does. It is found that the saturated adsorption capacity of Fe(3)O(4)@zeolite NaA on Cu(2+) is 86.54 mg/g. The adsorption isotherm analysis shows that the adsorption process of Fe(3)O(4)@zeolite NaA to Cu(2+) is more consistent with the Langmuir model, suggesting that it is a monolayer adsorption. Adsorption kinetics study found that the adsorption process of Fe(3)O(4)@zeolite NaA to Cu(2+) follows the pseudo-second kinetics model, which means that the combination of Fe(3)O(4)@zeolite NaA and Cu(2+) is the chemical chelating reaction. Thermodynamic analysis shows that the adsorption process of Fe(3)O(4)@zeolite NaA to Cu(2+) is endothermic, with increasing entropy and spontaneous in nature. The above results show that Fe(3)O(4)@zeolite NaA is a promising Cu(2+) adsorbent.