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Adsorptive removal of trinitrophenol using nano α-Fe2O3/reduced graphene oxide

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journal contribution
posted on 2020-02-13, 11:50 authored by Ishani Khurana, Ajay Kumar Shaw, Bharti, Jitender M. Khurana, Pramod Kumar Rai

2,4,6-Trinitrophenol (TNP), an explosive utilized for artillery munitions, ends up polluting water and soil. This study targets the treatment of TNP contaminated water via adsorption technique. A comparative adsorption study using pristine rGO (reduced graphene oxide), α-Fe2O3/rGO, bare α-Fe2O3 and physical mixture of α-Fe2O3 & rGO has been carried to select the most suitable adsorbent. To understand the mechanism of adsorption of TNP on α-Fe2O3/rGO adsorption isotherms were applied on adsorption data. The adsorption kinetics followed pseudo second order kinetic model. The mechanism of adsorption changed significantly with change in pH. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 769.23 mg · g−1. Regeneration studies indicated that the adsorbent can be used up to 3 times without significant decrease in adsorption efficiency. Magnetic nature of adsorbent allowed its easy segregation from the contaminant solution upon application of external magnetic field. To assess the adsorption efficacy of α-Fe2O3/rGO in real water under ambient condition, TNP was spiked in ground water samples collected from adjoining district that had high TDS (Total dissolved solids). The Langmuir adsorption capacity of 164.24 mg · g−1 was attained with substantial decrease in TDS. Thus α-Fe2O3/rGO proves to be an efficient adsorbent for nitrophenols and can be used commercially for waste water treatment.

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