Characterization of the modified silica gel
FT-IR analysis
FT-IR spectra of Fe2O3, chitosan, acrylamide, Fe3O4@CS@Am and Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph are shown in Fig. 2. The characteristic peaks (blue line) of the Fe2O3 appeared at 582 and 628 cm− 1 corresponding to Fe-O stretching vibration 1628 and 3426 cm− 1 and the peaks at 1628 and 3426 cm− 1 assigned to OH bending vibration of Fe2O3 respectively [26]. For chitosan (red line), a broad band around 3425 cm− 1 belongs to amino (NH2) and hydroxyl (OH) groups. Beside the peaks at 2916 and 1381 cm− 1 assign to C-H and C-N respectively [27]. The FTIR spectra of acrylamide (green line) demonstrated absorption peak at 1674 cm− 1 showed the presence of C = O group of amides [28], also the peaks at 3352, 3192 and 2812 cm− 1 attributed to NH and CH stretching vibration respectively.
XRD analysis
X-ray diffraction of Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph composite particles is shown in Fig. 3. The characteristic XRD peaks for Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph observed at 2θ = 30.3◦ (220), 35.6◦ (311),43.5◦ (400), 53.5◦ (422), 57.3◦ (511) and 62.5◦ (440) belong Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Beside the peaks at 10.4 and 20.4◦ are related to chitosan structure [29–31]. The average size of Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph composite particles is also estimated via Debye–Scherer equation D = 0.9λ/βcosθ (D is the average size, λ is the X-ray source wavelength (1.54 Å), β is the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the diffraction peak and θ is the Bragg’s angle) to be approximately 193 nm.
SEM analysis
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used to characterize the morphology and size of Fe3O4, Fe3O4@CS@Am and Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph particles. As shown in Fig. 4 the morphology of nanoparticles obtained nearly spherical shape. Furthermore, the size of Fe3O4, Fe3O4@CS@Am and Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph nanoparticles are relatively uniform and the average diameter are 26–32, 107–165 and 155–173 nm respectively.
TGA analysis
The TGA curve of the Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph is shown in Fig. 5. From the plot, the weight loss of Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph at a temperature from 28◦C to 226◦C is 7.23% and 2.84% respectively, which is attributed to the removal of water from the surface of the nanoparticles [32]. For Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph composite particles, weight loss between 226◦C to 600◦C (73.71%) was observed which is attributed to the decomposition of the anchored organic polymers of the adsorbent.
Magnetization analysis
The magnetic moment of the prepared magnetite nanoparticles was measured over a range of applied fields between 10000 and − 10000 Oe. The magnetization curves of the Fe3O4, Fe3O4@CS@Am and Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph at room temperature are shown in Fig. 6. The VSM results indicate coating the surface of the magnetite nanoparticles with acrylamide, chitosan and 2-Hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde leads to a decrease in the saturation magnetization. This is due to the presence of acrylamide, chitosan and 2-Hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde on the surface of Fe3O4 nanoparticles which may generate a magnetically dead layer so any crystalline disorder within the surface layer cause to a significant decrease in the saturation magnetization of nanoparticles [33]. The saturation magnetization values for the Fe3O4 particles, Fe3O4@CS@Am and Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph nanomaterials were 67, 7and 6 emu g− 1, respectively.
Sorption studies of selected dyes
Effect of adsorbent dosage
One of the important factors which affects adsorption processes is adsorbent dose since it determines the capacity of adsorbent for a given initial concentration of dye solution [34]. In this study, the influence of adsorbent dose on adsorption removal of everzol black dye was studied by using different amounts of sorbent (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg) in 40 mL of 100 mg/L at 25 ◦C for 30 min. Figure 7 showed effect of adsorbent dosage on the percentage removal of dye. The results showed that the % sorption of the everzol black dye increased by increasing the dosage of adsorbent. With the increase in dosage of Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph nanocomposite, the percentage removal of everzol black dye increased from 58.25 to 94.87. percentage removal increase can be related to the increased surface area of the adsorbent and availability of more adsorption sites.
Effect of initial dye concentration
The Effect of initial concentration of everzol black on adsorption of it on Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph nanocomposite were studied in different initial concentrations of dye between 10 and 100 mg/L with keeping constant the other parameters. As result of Fig. 8 illustrates, the percent of dye removal decreases with increase in dye initial concentration from 10 to 100 mg/L. This may be due to the increase of enough number of active sites of dye molecules for binding on the surface of the adsorbent. The percentage removal of everzol black decreases from 93.2 to 25.4%.
Effect of contact time
The effect of contact time on adsorption of everzol black the surface of Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph nanocomposite were studied at room temperature with the different contacting time at 10 and 20 min. Figure 9 shows effect of contact time on the percent removal of everzol black. As it can be seen in Fig. 9, by increasing the contact time percent adsorption of everzol black on Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph was increased.
Effect of initial pH solution
The pH plays a crucial role in the adsorption of dye onto the adsorbent. Indeed, the pH affects the adsorption process through the degree of ionization, the surface charge of the adsorbent, or the speciation of the adsorbate. In this study, the effect of initial pH on the sorption of everzol black onto Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph nanocomposite were studied at different values from 2 to 12. For this experiment, 0.1 M NaOH and 0.1 M HCl solutions were used to adjust the pH of the solution. The effect of pH on the percentage removal of everzol black by Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph is shown in Fig. 10. As it is seen in Fig. 10, in acidic conditions the amount of adsorption is increased that can be due to electrostatic attraction between positive charge of amino groups of chitosan and negative charge of sulfonate groups of the everzol black dye.
Adsorption isotherms
Adsorption isotherm is a method to investigate the relationship between the adsorbed amount in the liquid phase on adsorbent in equilibrium and constant temperature. In fact, the adsorption isotherm describes the interaction between the adsorbent and adsorbed surfaces. Therefore, it is always considered as a fundamental factor for determining the absorbent capacity and optimizing the absorbents. In the present study, Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used to obtain the isotherm parameters for adsorption of everzol black onto Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph nanocomposite. Investigating the experimental data obtained from adsorption in equilibrium with theoretical models and obtaining the relationship between them provides important information for the best possible design of an absorbent system. Langmuir adsorption isotherm: In this model, there is no interaction among adsorbed molecules and adsorption process happens on homogeneous surfaces, showed in below equation [35]:
$$\frac{{\text{C}}_{e}}{{q}_{e}}=\frac{1}{{\text{K}}_{\text{L}}.{q}_{m}}+\frac{{\text{C}}_{\text{e}}}{{q}_{m}}$$
where, Ce is the equilibrium concentration of the dye solution (mg/L), qe (mg/g) is the amount of dye adsorbed, qm is the value of monolayer adsorption capacity in Langmuir model and KL: constant value of Langmuir (mg/L). The Langmuir plot for the adsorption of everzol black onto Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph nanocomposite at different temperatures is shown in Fig. 11. Freundlich isotherm model is the more for the adsorption of components dissolved in a liquid solution, it is assumed that: First, the adsorption is monolayer and chemical, and second, the energy of the adsorption sites is not the same, ie the adsorbent surface is not uniform [36]:
$$\text{L}\text{n} {q}_{e}=\text{L}\text{n} {\text{K}}_{\text{f}}+\left(\frac{1}{\text{n}}\right) \text{L}\text{n} {\text{C}}_{\text{e}}$$
KF and n are experimental constants where KF is adsorption capacity at unit concentration (L/mg) and n shows the intensity of adsorption. The 1/n values can be classified as irreversible (1/n = 0), favorable (0 < 1/n < 1) and unfavorable (1/n > 1). Calculation of KF and n in Freundlich model for Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph nanocomposite shown in Fig. 12. Also, the separation factor (RL) was calculated by the following equation:
$${\text{R}}_{\text{L}}=\frac{1}{1+{\text{K}}_{\text{L}}.{\text{C}}_{0}}$$
The values of RL can illustrate the shape of the isotherm to be either unfavorable (RL>1), linear (RL=1), favorable (0 < RL<1) or irreversible (RL=0). The values of Langmuir and Freundlich parameters and the regression coefficients R2 of the adsorption of everzol black onto Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph are given in Table 1. According to Table 1, the value of RL was obtained in the range of 0 < RL<1, that showed adsorption of the everzol black on Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph was favorable. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacity (qm) calculated by Langmuir model was found to be 63.69 and regression coefficient value is 0.9959.
Table 1
Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms parameters and correlation coefficients for the adsorption of everzol black onto Fe3O4@CS@Am@Nph
Langmuir isotherm parameters
|
Freundlich isotherm parameters
|
qm (mg/g)
|
KL (L/mg)
|
RL
|
R2
|
KF (L/mg)
|
n
|
R2
|
63.69
|
0.49
|
0.019
|
0.9959
|
28.87
|
3.38
|
0.9635
|