Optimizing and Investigating the Removal of Deltamethrin Pesticide from Aqueous Environments by AC/Fe3O4 Magnetic Activated Carbon Composite using Response Surface RSM-BBD Method

The presence of various pollutants, especially pesticides in water sources is one of the important wastewater issues in the field of environment. The main purpose of this study is to remove and evaluate the optimal conditions and adsorption process of Deltamethrin pesticide by AC/Fe3O4 composite from aqueous solutions. For this purpose, adsorbents were first synthesized and then characterized and investigated using FT-IR, SEM, XRD, and VSM methods, which generally showed that the adsorbent was synthesized correctly. Then the optimal conditions (pH, contact time, initial concentration of Deltamethrin, and adsorbent dose) for removal of Deltamethrin by this adsorbent were evaluated according to the response surface methodology. The results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity of the adsorbent in the studied conditions for Deltamethrin is equal to 99.179 mg/g. The best models expressing the process of uptake of Deltamethrin by adsorbents are pseudo-second-order kinetic models, double exponential mechanism and sips isotherm. In addition, the adsorption process of Deltamethrin by AC/Fe3O4 composite is exothermic and with an enthalpy value equal to 54.79 KJ/mol. The results of this study showed that AC/Fe3O4 adsorbents have the ability to be used in the adsorption and desorption process of Deltamethrin with an adsorption percentage of more than 95%.