Mg–Zn ferrites with porous cavity structure were produced by sol-gel auto-combustion method utilizing a new mixture of dl-alanine and urea as an organic fuel-reductant. The influence of non-magnetic ...Zn ions content on the structural, morphological and adsorption characteristics of Mg–Zn NPs has been investigated. It was found that Zn effects the porosity of Mg–Zn ferrospinels. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of cubic spinel phase and the crystallite size was calculated by the SSP method, W-H method and modified Scherrer formula. SEM observations revealed mesh-like microstructure with the presence of 1–2 μm macropores and agglomerated nanoparticles. The EDS spectra confirmed the desired chemical composition of ferrites powders. Mössbauer spectroscopy confirmed the valence state of cations and their distribution over the spinel sublattices. The adsorption characteristics of spinel compounds were studied on Congo Red dye removal. The appropriateness of Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption models were investigated and the parameters of all models were determined. The observed data fitted well by Langmuir model, indicating that the Congo Red adsorption occurred on a homogeneous surface and that the active surface centers possessed similar energy values. The Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm model was utilized to calculate the free energy of Congo Red adsorption, i.e. setting in the range 7.81–22.4 kJ/mol and indicating that the Zn content affects the mechanism of Congo Red adsorption onto ferrite surfaces and the removal efficiency is enhanced with the rise in Zn content.
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•Mg–Zn ferrites with porous cavity microstructure have been synthesized.•Cationic distribution of Mg–Zn ferrites confirmed by both XRD and Mossbauer spectroscopy.•Presence of Zn ions in Mg ferrite enhance its surface morphology.•Mg–Zn ferrites exhibit enhanced adsorption efficiency for the Congo Red dye.
Cobalt (II) ferrite-chromites CoCr2-xFexO4 (x = 0.0 ÷ 2.0, step is 0.2) with spinel structure have been synthesized using sol-gel method with citrate metal-polymer precursor. The relations between ...structural, morphological and catalytic properties of the mixed spinels have been studied. The CoCr2-xFexO4 powders were analyzed using X-ray diffraction analysis, Mössbauer spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive analysis and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) methods. The average crystallite size was calculated using the Williamson-Hall and size-strain plot methods. Increase of Fe content resulted in increase of the crystallite size from 10 nm (CoCr2O4) to 35 nm (CoFe2O4). Chromium ions were located mainly in octahedral sites, whereas the cobalt and ferric ions were distributed between the octahedral and tetrahedral sites. The lattice parameter was dependent mostly on the octahedral site radius. Superparamagnetic properties of the nanoparticles were described by two-level relaxation model. The samples with a high content of chromium (III) have highly porous structure. Porosity of the samples was decreased with increasing the Fe content. IR spectra contain two peaks corresponding to two characteristic sites in the cubic spinel structure. The mixed ferrite-chromite spinels have catalytic activity in decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. Rate of H2O2 decomposition in the presence of cobalt (II) ferrite-chromite NPs corresponds to the first-order kinetic model. Within 25 min, the decomposition degree is 76.6% with the most active CoFe2O4 sample. Catalytic activity of the samples depends on two factors: the specific surface area and the surface active sites. Antistructure modeling revealed that the tetrahedral Fe(III) sites have electron acceptor properties. The formed Fe(II) ions are active centers in the Fenton-like processes. Probably, the red-ox pairs Co2+/Co3+ in the spinel lattice promote catalytic activity due to acceleration of electron transfer. The spinel cobalt (II) ferrite-chromites are promising catalysts for oxidation of toxic organic impurities in wastewaters with using H2O2.
The magnesium-zinc ferrites Mg1-xZnxFe2O4 (x = 0…1) were studied as magnetic sorbents for environmental applications. Low-temperature Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to determine the distribution of ...magnesium and ferric ions in the spinel crystal lattice. The influence of Zn content on magnetic parameters was investigated on the basis of VSM data. As the molar ratio of zinc to magnesium increases from 0 to 1, the pHPZC value decreases from 10.5 to 8.9. Langmuir and Freundlich models were used to check whether single-layer or multi-layer adsorption occurs. The adsorption of Cr(VI) and Ni(II) ions is well fitted by the Langmuir equation. To check the physical or chemical nature of the sorption process, the Dubinin-Radushkevich equation was used. It was found that the processes of adsorption of Cr(VI) and Ni(II) ions are of a chemical nature. The best Cr(VI) ion adsorption capacity was found for the Mg0·2Zn0·8Fe2O4 sample (qe = 30.49 mg/g). The percentage of heavy metal removal by the mixed ferrite samples increases with increasing zinc content. The most effective sorbent for Ni(II) removal is the Mg0·4Zn0·6Fe2O4 sample (93.2%). Modeling the antistructure provides deeper insight into the mechanism of heavy metal adsorption. The obtained magnesium-zinc ferrites are promising magnetic adsorbents for removing chromate and nickel ions from the environment.
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•Magnesium-zinc ferrites were investigated as adsorbents for the Cr(VI) and Ni(II) removal.•Mg0·2Zn0·8Fe2O4 sample showed the best adsorption capacity (qe = 30.49 mg/g).•Mg0·4Zn0·6Fe2O4 sample is the most effective sorbent for Ni(II) removal (93.2%).•Adsorption capacity is influenced by the surface active centers.•The higher the content of octahedral Mg cations, the lower the adsorption capacity.
