High effective adsorption of organic dyes on magnetic cellulose beads entrapping activated carbon

Maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles were created with a submerged circulation impinging stream reactor (SCISR) from FeCl3·6H2O and FeCl2·4H2O by using precipitation followed by oxidation. Subsequently, by blending cellulose with the Fe2O3 nanoparticles and activated carbon (AC) in 7 wt% NaOH/12 wt% urea aqueous solution pre-cooled to −12 °C, millimeter-scale magnetic cellulose beads, coded as MCB-AC, was fabricated via an optimal dropping technology. The cellulose beads containning Fe2O3 nanoparticles exhibited sensitive magnetic response, and their recovery could facilitate by applying a magnetic field. The adsorption and desorption of the organic dyes on MCB-AC were investigated to evaluate the removal of dyes (methyl orange and methylene blue) with different charges from aqueous solution. Their adsorption kinetics experiments were carried out and the data were well fitted by a pseudo-second-order equation. The results revealed that the MCB-AC sorbent could efficiently adsorb the organic dyes from wastewater, and the used sorbents could be recovered completely. Therefore, we developed a highly efficient sorbent, which were prepared by using simple and “green” process, for the applications on the removal of hazardous materials.