The synthesis of magnetite nanoparticles functionalized by Nb (V) metalloporphyrin for the selective removal of flouride ions from aqueous media

Subject Areas : Farm water management with the aim of improving irrigation management indicators

Tahere Poursaberi ¹ (Assistant Professor, Analysis and evaluation of materials group, Research institute of petroleum industry, Tehran, Iran)
Mostafa Hassanisad ² (Assistant Professor, Analysis and evaluation of materials group, Research institute of petroleum industry, Tehran, Iran)
Kamran Torkestani ³ (Assistant Professor, Analysis and evaluation of materials group, Research institute of petroleum industry, Tehran, Iran)

Received: 2011-08-03 Accepted : 2012-02-29 Published : 2012-03-02

Keywords: fluoride ion, magnetic nanoparticles, surface modification, Water pollution,

Abstract :

Abundance of amounts of fluoride in water resources has a harmful effect on human health. A new magnetic nanoadsorbent was developed by treating Fe3O4 nanoparticles with 3- aminopropyltriethoxysilane and Nb (V)- metalloporphyrin and applied to remove excessive fluoride from aqueous solutions. Nb (V) - metalloporphyrin was attached to Fe3O4 via the interaction between the carboxylic groups and the amine groups of APTES. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the synthesized nanoparticles. The effect of pH, contact time, sorbent dosage and some co-existing anions present in aqueous solution was investigated. The results indicated that under optimal conditions (i.e. pH: 5.5, contact time: 30 min and sorbent dosage: 100 mg) the fluoride removal efficiency of 94.0% can be achieved. Regeneration of fluoride adsorbed material could be possible with NaOH and the modified magnetic nanoparticles exhibited good reusability for four cycles.