Preparation of a New Magnetic Nanocomposite for the Removal of Dye Pollutions from Aqueous Solutions: Synthesis and Characterization

In the present study, a new magnetic nanocomposite was synthesized with capability to remove the dye pollutant from aqueous solutions. In the first step, magnetite nanoparticle was synthesized via co-precipitation method and then, they were modified with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and acryloyl chloride, respectively. Then itaconic acid (IA) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate were grafted on the modified nanoparticles via in situ copolymerization to prepare the final nanocomposite. The prepared nanocomposite was used as the adsorbent for removal of the methylene blue as a typical dye from aqueous solutions. According to the obtained results, the nanocomposite showed high adsorption efficiency toward the methylene blue dye within 15 minutes and the other optimized values are as: pH=11, adsorbent dosage=30 mg, initial concentration of the dye=20 ppm. Different parameters such as pH, amount of adsorbent, initial concentration of the dye, and contact time were investigated and optimized. Moreover, the synthesized nanocomposite was characterized by different methods such as FT-IR, VSM, TGA, XRD, and FE-SEM analyses. The result of VSM shows that the obtained nanocomposite have a magnetic property, which ease its separation and its amount, is 31.72 emu.g-1.