Electrospun Fe2O3-Al2O3 nanocomposite fibers as efficient adsorbent for removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solution.

In this study, Iron oxide-alumina mixed nanocomposite fiber was prepared by electrospinning method and its performance was evaluated as a heavy metal ion adsorbent. Here boehmite nanoparticle was synthesized by sol-gel method and was impregnated in PVP-iron acetylacetonate solution in a ratio of 1:1:2. These boehmite impregnated polymer solution was electrospun to form nanocomposite polymer fiber. The electrospun nanofiber was sintered at 1000°C for converting it to pure oxide form for further application as adsorbent. Iron oxide-alumina mixed nanocomposite fiber was characterized by UV-vis-DRS, IR, SEM-EDX, TEM, BET and TGA-DTA analytical techniques. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to study the sorption behavior of Cu(2+), Pb(2+), Ni(2+) and Hg(2+) ions as a function of initial concentration, contact time and pH. The removal percentage was in the order of Cu(2+)<Pb(2+)<Ni(2+)<Hg(2+). The maximum sorption capacities by applying the Langmuir equation were found to be 4.98 mg/g for Cu(2+), 32.36 mg/g for Ni(2+), 23.75 mg/g for Pb(2+) and 63.69 mg/g for Hg(2+) ions. The regeneration studies of mixed nanocomposite adsorbents were also reported here.