Facile preparation of acid-resistant magnetite particles for removal of Sb(III) from strong acidic solution

A new facile coating strategy based on the hydrophobicity of methyl groups was developed to prevent nano-sized magnetite particles from strong acid corrosion. In this method, three steps of hydrolysis led to three layers of protection shell coating Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Filled with hydrophobic methyl groups, the middle layer mainly prevented the magnetic core from strong acid corrosion. These magnetite particles managed to resist 1 M HCl solution and 2.5 M H2SO4 solution. The acid resistant ability was higher than those reported previously. After further modification with amino-methylene-phosphonic groups, these magnetite particles successfully adsorbed Sb(III) in strong acid solution. This new strategy can also be applied to protect other materials from strong acid corrosion.