Facile preparation of magnetic P(MMA-co-GMA)@Fe3O4@PMAA microspheres using porous microsphere as templates for removal of methylene blue

Magnetic polymer microspheres (MPMs) have been frequently used in contemporary wastewater treatment technology because of their efficient adsorption and separation capabilities. However, the magnetization efficiency of polymer microspheres cannot be effectively enhanced using the reported template methods. In this study, a novel template method for preparing MPMs was developed. Magnetic P(MMA-co-GMA)@Fe3O4@PMAA microspheres (mPFPMs) were created with a high magnetic content, homogeneous particle size distribution, and carboxylated surfaces. Compared with the conventional template methods, this method avoids the generation of free magnetic nanoparticles and improves the magnetic content of MPMs, as well as imparting carboxyl functional groups to the mPFPMs. The mPFPMs can be used to adsorb contaminants quickly and effectively. The results of the adsorption process were preferably fitted to the Langmuir isotherm (R-2 = 0.998) with a maximum adsorption capacity of 124.9 mg/g and followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Besides, the mPFPMs adsorbent showed better reusability for ten cycles with high adsorption properties. Therefore, this work proposed a novel and facile strategy to prepare MPMs that exhibited significant potential application value in many fields.

Automated summary

A novel template method was developed to prepare magnetic polymer microspheres (MPMs) with high magnetization efficiency and carboxylated surfaces. The mPFPMs exhibited excellent adsorption properties, following Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Moreover, the mPFPMs adsorbent showed good reusability for multiple cycles.