The Synthesis of Magnetic Activated Carbon/Cobalt Nanocomposite for Fast Removal of Cr(VI) from Wastewater: Kinetics, Thermodynamics, and Adsorption Equilibrium Studies

Magnetic activated carbon/cobalt nanocomposite (MAC/Co) has been produced in the form of a new environment-friendly adsorbent for the first time. Energy dispersive X-ray, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), surface area, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction methods have been applied to describe its chemical composition, functional groups, surface and morphological features. Cr(VI) ions from wastewater samples have been removed by using the MAC/Co. Adsorption efficiency has been estimated to be 95.3% within 15 min at pH 5 at room temperature. Freundlich, Langmuir, and Temkin isotherm models have been used for evaluating equilibrium in order to examine the procedure appropriateness. Kinetics studies indicated that Elovich model is a well fitness model for explaining adsorption mechanisms. Thermodynamic findings indicated endothermic and spontaneous nature of adsorption procedure. Separation of the MAC/Co from water samples can be readily performed by an exterior magnet. By using 0.1 mol/L NaOH solution, desorbing adsorbed Cr(VI) ions have been done with great efficiency. It is possible to reuse the MAC/Co nanocomposite to more than 5 cycles. Thus, the developed nanocomposite will be efficient and a hopeful adsorbent to cleaning treatment of Cr(VI) ions from wastewater via a large scale designed adsorption structure.