A facile co-gelation route to synthesize FeCo/carbon nanocomposites and their application as magnetically separable adsorber

A new kind of magnetic porous FeCo/carbon nanocomposites was successfully synthesized by using a facile co-gelation sol-gel route. The so-gel process of this route started from an ethanol solution containing teraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), furfuryl alcohol (FA), and metal nitrates. With the evaporation of solvent, the weak acidity produced from hydrolysis of metal nitrates simultaneously catalyzed the polymerization of FA and the hydrolysis of TEOS, which led to the inorganic/organic hybrid xerogel, accompanying metal salts spontaneously captured in the xerogel. The composites obtained have high surface areas, pore volumes and strong magnetic strengths, which make them exhibit excellent performance of adsorption for bulk dyes and easily separated from solution by external field after adsorption. Compared to the previous methods, this route is very simple and operable for the preparation of magnetic porous carbon composites. Such facile co-gelation route also provides a common path to the synthesis of nanoscale metal or alloy embedded in the porous carbon materials. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.