Experimental and mathematical modeling of Cr(VI) removal using nano-magnetic Fe3O4-coated perlite from the liquid phase

Modification of perlite using nano-magnetic iron oxide was implemented to produce nano-magneticFe(3)O(4)-coated perlite composite (Fe3O4/Perlite). The prepared composite was characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy, Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy and Powder X-ray Fluorescence. The potentiality of both perlite and Fe3O4/Perlite composite to eliminate Cr(VI) from the environmentally relevant water was investigated. The influence of main factors which could affect the adsorption was studied including; pH of medium, shaking time and Cr(VI) ions concentration. The experimental outcome demonstrated that the modification of perlite by nano-magnetic Fe3O4 showed a significantly enhanced Cr(VI) removal efficiency relative to that of unmodified perlite. From the kinetic studies, the experimental data fitted well with the pseudo-second-order model. Moreover, it proposes that Langmuir isotherm is more adequate than the Freundlich isotherm for both perlite and modified perlite. The results recommended that Fe3O4/Perlite composite had a great potential as an economic and efficient adsorbent of Cr(VI) from contaminated water, which has huge application potential. (C) 2020 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.