Aero-Gel Based Cerium Doped Iron Oxide Solid Solution for Ultrafast Removal of Arsenic

A solid solution of aero-gel based cerium doped iron oxide nanoparticles has been utilized for the first time for ultrasonic wave assisted adsorptive removal of arsenic from aqueous medium. The FE-SEM and HR-TEM images revealed a novel morphology of hollow architectures with irregular distribution in sizes in which the particles are interconnected with each other in a long-range network. The HR-XRD analysis indicated the cubic fluorite type structure with Fm3m space group which is retained even after adsorption of As(III). The Raman study and Lebail refinement confirmed the formation of solid solution of Fe and Ce oxide nanoparticles. The room temperature ferromagnetism was observed for CeO2 NPs (Ms 0.0209 emu g–1) which is attributed to higher concentration of oxygen vacancies and increased (Ms 0.0287 emu g–1) after doping of iron. The adsorption pattern of As(III) is well-defined by Redlich–Peterson isotherm while the adsorption is governed by pseudo-second-order kinetics. The HR-XPS and diffuse reflec...