A novel magnetically-separable porous iron-oxide nanocomposite as an adsorbent for methylene blue (MB) dye

In this study, efficient and magnetically separable adsorbents for the removal of organic pollutants from water are developed, which are both, environmental friendly and cheap to produce. A new type of porous iron-oxide/polymer nanocomposite was synthesized by a two-step process utilizing surface modification of gas‐phase synthesized iron-oxide nanoparticles and a subsequent polymerization process. The potential of iron-oxide/polymer composite adsorbents with a large surface area for the removal of organic components was studied using methylene blue (MB) as a test substance. Adsorption isotherms fitted well with the Langmuir isotherm model and the adsorption capacity of MB on this adsorbent was found to be as high as 298 mg/g which is several times higher than the adsorption capacity of a number of recently reported potential adsorbents. Owing to its magnetic properties, the polluted adsorbent can be easily separated from aqueous solutions.