Facile and Efficient Method for the Adsorption and Separation of Lanthanum Rare Earth Metal Oxide Using Iron（II） Sulfide Nanoparticles Coated on Magnetite

A novel iron sulphide adsorbent using magnetite embedded with nanosized Fe3O4 was prepared and applied to separation lanthanum (III) from aqueous solution. This adsorbent combines the advantages of magnetic nanoparticle with magnetic separability and high affinity toward rare earth metals, which provides distinctive merits including easy preparation, high adsorption capacity, easy isolation from sample solutions by the application of an external magnetic field. The adsorption behaviors of lanthanum (III) from an aqueous medium, using iron sulphide magnetite nanoparticles were studied using equilibrium batch and column flow techniques. The effect of pH, contents of loaded iron sulphide nanoparticles, ionic strength, adsorbent dose, contact time, and temperature on adsorption capacity of the magnetic beads was investigated. All of the results suggested that the FeS/Fe3O4 Nanoparticles could be excellent adsorbents for La(III) contaminated water treatment.