Incorporation of trimetallic nanoparticles to the SiO2 matrix for the removal of methylene blue dye from aqueous medium

The removal of toxic dyes from the wastewater is a serious concern. One of the commonly employed dyes in the textile industry is methylene blue (MB). Its presence in water not only reduces the aesthetic value of the water but also affects aquatic life. Considering this, we have worked on the designing of Bi2O3-SrOFeO@SiO2 nanocomposite using a simple microwave irradiation method. The synthesized Bi2O3-SrOFeO@SiO2 nanocomposite was characterized by various techniques such as scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, X-Ray diffractometer, elemental mapping, Energy- dispersive X-Ray, and X-ray photoelectron spectrophotometer. The adsorption technique was utilized for the effective removal of MB using Bi2O3-SrO-FeO@SiO2 nanocomposite. Effects of various factors such as the concentration of MB, amount of Bi2O3-SrO-FeO@SiO2 nanocomposite, and reaction time were undertaken for getting some optimized parameters for the further experiments. Adsorption isotherm models such as Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin were employed for the adsorption data. Besides, adsorption kinetic models such as Pseudo- first order and Pseudo- second-order were also studied for determining the rate of the undertaken adsorption process. At last, the reusability of the Bi2O3-SrO-FeO@SiO2 nanocomposite was studied for six consecutive cycles for elaborating the practical application of the synthesized adsorbent. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.