(2016) Chemosphere_Fabrication of a novel magnetic carbon nanocomposite adsorbent via pyrolysis of sugar

Cho D.-W., Lee J., Ok Y.S., Kwon E.E., Song H.

(Elsevier Ltd) Chemosphere ISSN: 456535 Vol.163 Issue. Article No. DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.08.025

A new-fashioned fabrication recipe for a magnetic carbon nanocomposite (Fe₃O₄@C) via pyrolysis of sugar with magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles was developed for the practical environmental application as an adsorbent. In order to synthesize Fe₃O₄@C, the thermal degradation of sugar was firstly investigated via thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) to explore the optimal pyrolytic conditions for fabricating Fe₃O₄@C. This study laid a great emphasis on the physicochemical characterization of pyrogenic Fe₃O₄@C through various analytical techniques, which experimentally validated that Fe₃O₄@C retained thin graphitic carbon layers containing carboxyl groups on the surface with the point of zero charge (pHpzc) of 7.5. Based on adsorption tests of methylene blue (MB), it was found the optimal mass ratio of sugar to Fe₃O₄ was 0.15 with pyrolysis temperature of 500 °C. The adsorption capacity of Fe₃O₄@C for MB was 52.6 mg g⁻¹ and MB adsorption showed a strong pH dependence, which implies an active role of electrostatic interactions in the adsorption process. In regeneration experiments, Fe₃O₄@C retained 84 % of its initial adsorption capacity after completing four consecutive adsorption cycles. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd

This work was supported by National Research Foundation of Korea (Ministry of Education, NRF- 2014R1A1A2054607 ).