Synthesis of magnetically separable porous BN microrods@Fe3O4 nanocomposites for Pb(II) adsorption

Abstract We herein report in-situ solvothermal method to prepare Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles-coated porous BN microrods (p-BNMR@Fe 3 O 4 ) nanocomposites. A combination of the XRD, SEM and TEM characterization indicates that the good-crystallinity Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles with an average size of 7 nm are uniformly coated on the surface of p-BNMRs. The as-prepared p-BNMR@Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites perform significant adsorption activity for Pb(II), and the maximum adsorption capacity is as high as 249.5 mg/g when the initial concentration of Pb(II) is 180 mg/L at room temperature with pH of 5.5. In addition, the superparamagnetic property of the p-BNMR@Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites also enabled the rapid separation by a low magnetic field. Consequently, the p-BNMR@Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites have great potential in treating Pb(II)-contaminated water.