Composite nanofibers prepared from metallic iron nanoparticles and polyaniline: High performance for water treatment applications

•PANI/Fe0 composite nanofibers were prepared for water treatment application.•Fe0 nanoparticles were synthesized using polymerization by-products as precursor.•PANI/Fe0 nanofibers were 80–150 nm in diameter and showed ferromagnetic nature.•Nanofibers exhibited superior capacity for removal of As(V), Cr(VI) and CR.•PANI/Fe0 nanofibers could be separated by external magnetic field after treatment.

Presented here is a simple preparation of metallic iron nanoparticles, supported on polyaniline nanofibers at room temperature. The preparation is based on polymerization of interconnected nanofibers by rapid mixing of the aniline monomer with Fe(III) chloride as the oxidant, followed by reductive deposition of Fe0 nanoparticles, using the polymerization by-products as the Fe precursor. The morphology and other physico-chemical properties of the resulting composite were characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and vibrating-sample magnetometry. The composite fibers were 80–150 nm in diameter and exhibited the expected ferromagnetic behavior. The composite rapidly and efficiently removed As(V), Cr(VI), and also Congo red dye, from aqueous solutions suggesting their usefulness for removal of toxic materials from wastewater. The composite fibers have high capacity for toxin removal: 42.37 mg/g of As(V), 434.78 mg/g of Cr(VI), and 243.9 mg/g of Congo red. The fibers are easily recovered from fluids by exploiting their ferromagnetic properties.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (153 K)Download as PowerPoint slide