Synthesis of magnetic Fe3O4/graphene aerogel for the removal of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid herbicide from water

Abstract

Graphene-based aerogels are among the lightest materials in the world and have been extensively studied for environmental remediation. In this work, an Fe₃O₄/graphene aerogel material was synthesized using the co-precipitation method. The prepared material was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy/X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (FESEM/EDX), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and vibration sample magnetization (VSM). The results showed that the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles with a particle size of less than 100 nm were well-distributed on the surface of the graphene aerogel. The prepared Fe₃O₄/graphene aerogel showed effective removal of 2,4-D herbicide from the aqueous solution with a maximal adsorption capacity of approximately 42.918 mg g⁻¹. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics were investigated to study the adsorption behaviour of the resultant material. The saturation magnetism value of the aerogel was determined to be about 20.66 emu g⁻¹, indicating that the adsorbent could be easily collected from the solution using an external magnet. These results implied that the prepared Fe₃O₄/graphene aerogel could be a promising adsorbent for the removal of 2,4-D herbicide from water.