Preparation and characterization of magnetic rectorite/iron oxide nanocomposites and its application for the removal of the dyes

The superparamagnetic Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles were synthesized on the rectorite (REC) to prepare the adsorbent of magnetic REC (REC-Fe(3)O(4)), which was explored to adsorb three dyes, namely methylene blue (MB), neutral red (NR) and methyl orange (MO). Characterization of REC-Fe(3)O(4) by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction showed that REC was attached with clusters of Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles. And the galleries in the REC were partially exfoliated when Fe(3)O(4) were formed on the new surface of REC. There were still some galleries, which were not exfoliated in REC-Fe(3)O(4). Magnetic properties revealed that REC-Fe(3)O(4) was superparamagnetic with a saturation magnetization (19.14 emu/g). The adsorption behavior of REC and REC-Fe(3)O(4) illustrated that it exhibited good adsorption for MB and NR, while the adsorption of MO was very little. And REC-Fe(3)O(4) was easily separated from the aqueous solution in a magnetic field. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.