A facile route for preparation of magnetic biomass activated carbon with high performance for removal of dye pollutants

A novel and simple method for preparing magnetic biomass activated carbon (BAC) was developed. The BAC was prepared by decomposing fallen leaves, and magnetic nanoparticles were grown in situ on BAC using solvothermal method. The prepared magnetic BAC was characterized with FT-IR, XRD, vibrating sample magnetometer, thermo-gravimetric apparatus, SEM, and high-resolution transmission electron microscope, and results indicate that BAC and magnetic nanoparticles were combined together successfully. To investigate the adsorption ability of the composites, several dyes were selected as sample pollutants, and the sorbent showed high adsorption capacity for the dyes. The solution pH had no significant effect on the adsorption in the range of 5-9. The adsorption behavior of magnetic BAC for dyes followed the Langmuir isotherm model, and the adsorption capacity of congo red, neutral red, and methyl green were 396.8, 171.2, and 403.2 mg/g, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity in natural water showed no obvious decrease, indicating the strong anti-interference ability of the sorbents. The Gibbs free energy calculated from the thermodynamics data was negative, demonstrating that the adsorption of these dyes on the magnetic BAC was spontaneous. The magnetic BAC showed a great potential for the removal of dye pollutants from environment water.