Al-doped Fe3O4 hollow nanostructured particles: A promising material for application in the coagulation-flocculation process

This work showed the promising synthesis and utilization of Al-doped Fe3O4 particles coupled with coagulants-flocculants for water treatment. Comparative experiments performed using the coagulant-flocculant alone and mixed with 1 and 4 mg of particles respectively, indicated that the addition of the particles resulted in higher removal efficiencies of TSS, turbidity, UV254, color, and residual Fe and Al, reaching regulated permissible limits that were safer for disposal. Higher removal efficiencies were obtained using 4 mg of particles (99.5, 96.6, 99.6, 90.4, 96.8, and 98.2 %, respectively). However, both nanoparticles/coagulant-flocculant mixtures suggested a synergistic effect between the coagulant-flocculant and the particles, yielding higher adsorption capacities. Additional experiments performed with other particles/coagulant-flocculant mixtures confirmed that the char-acteristics of the Al-doped Fe3O4 particles resulted in the more efficient removal of pollutants from water.