Iron diffusion-doped magnesium-aluminum layered double oxides as a multifunctional adsorbent for removal of F−, Sb(III) and methyl orange contaminants from water

Due to the complexity of the contaminations in wastewater, a universal adsorbent that takes many sorts of pollutant is desired. A multi-functioning magnetic Fe3O4-cored magnesium-aluminum layered double oxide (Fe3O4@LDO) composite was prepared and employed as an adsorbent for removing F−, Sb(III) and MO from water, respectively, which are three typical contaminants with different molecule sizes as water contamination. The effect of pH contact time and initial concentrations of pollutants on the removal rates of each contaminant were investigated. Fe3O4@LDO composite showed excellent adsorption performance for all of the three molecules F−, Sb(III) and MO, and their maximum adsorption capacities are as high as 258, 391, and 506mg/g, respectively. The adsorption process of F−, Sb(III) and MO on Fe3O4@LDO fitted well to Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The adsorption mechanisms of F−, Sb(III) and MO on Fe3O4@LDO were investigated. We discovered that iron ions diffused from Fe3O4 nanospheres contributed to the good performance of the absorbent.