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Ferrocene–Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes: An Adsorbent for Rhodamine B

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Abstract

It is well-known that direct discharges of dye-contaminated wastewaters generated from various industries (i.e., textile, cosmetics and food industries,…) cause severe effects on both aquatic environment and human health. Decontamination of dye-containing wastewaters using nanomaterials-based adsorbents such as carbon nanotubes is regarded as an interesting field of investigation to control these types of pollutants. In this context, a newly prepared ferrocene-modified carbon nanotubes (amFc-MWCNTs) was applied as an adsorbent for the removal of rhodamine B (RhB) dye from aqueous solutions. The structural properties of the hybrid adsorbent were fully characterized using Raman, XPS, EDX, SEM and TEM microscopy. Adsorption isotherms and kinetics of RhB were investigated and multiple models (i.e. Langmuir, Freundlich, Hill,…) were used to fit experimental data. It was found that > 98% of RhB with initial concentration of 10 mg L−1 can be captured within 2 h when using 0.4 g L−1 of amFc-MWCNTs. The adsorption behavior of this nanomaterial fitted well with the Hill isotherm and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Moreover, the intra-particle diffusion was identified as the rate-limiting step of the adsorption process. After washing with acetone, regenerated amFc-MWCNTs adsorbent showed good recovery, indicating its reusability and its potential in practical applications.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to our laboratory (LCAE-LR99ES15).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry, Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry and Electrochemistry (LR99ES15), University of Tunis El Manar, Campus universitaire de Tunis El Manar, 2092, Tunis, Tunisia

    Amal Rabti, Amira Hannachi, Hager Maghraoui-Meherzi & Noureddine Raouafi

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  1. Amal Rabti
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  2. Amira Hannachi
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  3. Hager Maghraoui-Meherzi
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  4. Noureddine Raouafi
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Correspondence to Amal Rabti or Noureddine Raouafi.

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Rabti, A., Hannachi, A., Maghraoui-Meherzi, H. et al. Ferrocene–Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes: An Adsorbent for Rhodamine B. Chemistry Africa 2, 113–122 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42250-018-00031-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42250-018-00031-0

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