Synthesis of magnetite-porphyrin nanocomposite and its application as a novel magnetic adsorbent for removing heavy cations

•Nanosized Fe3O4 was prepared by hydrothermal reaction of iron salt in alkaline media.•The synthesized magnetite and nanocomposite had soft ferromagnetic property.•Magnetic nanocomposite as a novel magnetic adsorbent for heavy cations was prepared.•Satisfactory separation from solutions in the order of Pb2+ > Cd2+ > Hg2+ was obtained.

Magnetite-porphyrin nanocomposite (MPNC) was synthesized as a novel magnetic adsorbent for removing heavy cations. Firstly, we prepared nano-sized magnetite using a simple hydrothermal route. The synthesis of nanoscaled magnetite was carried out through reaction between iron source and various amines. In this paper, we studied effective parameters in controlling shape and size of nanoscaled magnetite. These parameters were presence of alkaline, reaction time, kind of amine and iron salt. Morphology, particle size and magnetic properties of the nanoscaled magnetite were obtained by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Our study showed that the synthesized magnetite from reaction between FeSO4 and hydrazinum hydrate has spherical shape. The synthesized magnetite was a nanosized compound and used for preparation of magnetite-porphyrin nanocomposite. The synthesized magnetite-porphyrin hybrid material had magnetic property and was used as magnetic adsorbent for removing heavy cations of water. Satisfactory separation from solutions in the order of Pb2+ > Cd2+ > Hg2+ was obtained.

Graphical abstractMagnetite-porphyrin nanocomposite (MPNC) as a novel magnetic adsorbent for removing heavy cations was synthesized.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide