Direct electrospinned La2O3 nanowires decorated with metal particles: Novel 1 D adsorbents for rapid removal of dyes in wastewater

Inorganic nanocomposites have attracted continuous attention as low cost and eco-friendly adsorbents. However, low adsorption rate and poor cycle performance limit their further application. Herein, lanthanum oxide (LO) ceramic nanowires decorated with nickel nanoparticles (NiNPs) have been synthesized by a facile electrospinning method. The decomposition of polymer precursor left high pore volume in the resultant ceramic nanowires, giving the nanowires a high surface area. The NiNPs-LO nanowires can remove various dye contaminants with adsorption rate constant higher than most adsorbents. More importantly, the NiNPs-LO nanowires can be separated and reused conveniently with stable cyclic performance, avoiding not only energy consumption but also secondary pollution. The adsorption performance fits well with pseudo-second-order and Langmuir isothermal model, indicating a monolayer adsorption process. Combined with structural and FT-IR analysis, the excellent adsorption ability is mainly ascribed to the electron interaction between the composite interfaces and contaminates under the assistance of high surface area and porosity. This work provides an ideal recyclable adsorbent for the ultra-fast water purification. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology.