Porous Mn3[Co(CN)6]2·nH2O nanocubes as a rapid organic dyesadsorption material

Abstract

Porous Mn₃[Co(CN)₆]₂·nH₂O nanocubes were successfully synthesized by a surfactant-assisted (PVP) process through a simple precipitation method at room temperature. X-Ray powder diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) were employed for the morphology and structure characterization. The fine-detailed information about porous structures of the samples has also been studied using the Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET) isotherm. Most importantly, the prepared porous structured Mn₃[Co(CN)₆]₂·nH₂O showed excellent adsorption capacity and rapid adsorption rate for dyes in aqueous solution, such as methyl violet, neutral red, methyl orange and especially for methylene blue. The effects of contact time, initial concentration and initial pH were also investigated. The maximum adsorption capacity of methylene blue was as high as 489.9 mg g⁻¹ and 96.5% of the dye was removed within initial 5 min of contact time. Due to the simple synthetic method, fast adsorption rate and its high adsorption capacity, the synthesized Mn₃[Co(CN)₆]₂·nH₂O porous nanocubes could be used as an effective adsorbent for removing dye pollutants from waste water.