Facile synthesis of iron-based oxide from natural ilmenite with morphology controlled adsorption performance for Congo red

• Published in: Applied surface science 2019-09, Vol.488, p.522-530
• Main Authors: Zhao, Shunzheng, Kang, Dongjuan, Yang, Zhongyu, Huang, Yonghai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption mechanism; Hierarchical structured FeTiOx; Natural ilmenite; Organic dyes; Water treatment
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.05.324

Three different morphologies of FeTiOx materials (microcubes, etched-microcubes and microspheres) were prepared by a facile method using acid leachate of ilmenite as the precursor. The three FeTiOx materials exhibited different adsorption performance for Congo red (CR). Among them, the FeTiOx microspheres showed the highest adsorption capacity (723.8 mg/g) for CR, followed by the FeTiOx etched-microcubes (617.8 mg/g) and the FeTiOx microcubes (296.5 mg/g). Characterization results showed that the three FeTiOx materials had distinctive phase composition, pore structure and surface functional group, which ultimately lead to their difference in adsorption performance. The adsorption mechanism of the three FeTiOx materials mainly includes ion exchange, electrostatic adsorption and mesopore filling, but the contribution of each type is different. [Display omitted] •Three kinds of FeTiOx materials with different morphologies (microcubes, etched-microcubes and microspheres) were prepared.•Three FeTiOx materials exhibited different adsorption performances for congo red.•Three FeTiOx materials with different morphologies exhibited distinct physicochemical properties.•Different morphologies resulted in distinct removal mechanism for congo red.•Removal mechanisms mainly included ion exchange, electrostatic adsorption and mesopore filling, but the contribution of each type is different in the three FeTiOx.