Highly efficient nano sorbent as a superior material for the purification of wastewater contaminated with anthraquinone dye RB19

Water pollution caused by the presence of organic dyes is a serious environmental issue and their removal is a great challenge. In this study, a new sorbent, a ferrite based on zinc, manganese, and iron (ZnMnFe2O4), was synthesized by the coprecipitation method for efficient removal of anionic anthraquinone RB19 dye. BET surface area of the ZnMnFe2O4 amounted was 73.32 m(2)/g. The structure and morphology of ZnMnFe2O4 remained unchanged after the sorption of RB19.The maximum adsorption capacity for RB19 was 1498.99 mg/g at pH 2 with sorbent dose of 0.25 mg/L. The sorption kinetics of RB19 on ZnMnFe2O4 were best described by the pseudo-second and Chrastil models, while sorption equilibrium results were in best agreement with the Freundlich, Temkin, Sips and Brouers-Sotolongo isotherm models, which suggest heterogeneous sorption. The sorption process was thermodynamically favorable, exothermic and spontaneous according to the values of Delta G degrees and Delta H degrees. The physisorption and chemisorption were included in the sorption process. Ultimately, the results of this research indicated a great potential for the application of ZnMnFe2O4 in advanced technologies for purification of water and wastewater from anthraquinone dyes due to very high sorption capacity, the stability of the sorbent during sorption, simple and cheap synthesis.