CuFe2O4@ hydroxyapatite composite for the environmental remediation of some heavy metal ions: Synthesis and characterization

Abstract

Tailoring highly efficient adsorbents for environmental remediation is a great challenge key. This paper reports the synthesis of nanostructured pure hydroxylapatite and hydroxyapatite coupled with copper ferrite CuFe2O4@HAp by simple routes for utilizing in the capture of some heavy metal ions like Fe(II) and Al(III) ions. The prepared CuFe2O4@HAp has the advantage of the feasible removal of the adsorbent materials after the treatment process by just exposing them to an external magnetic field. The obtained adsorbent has been characterized by several techniques; XRD patterns showed the high purity of the materials. Moreover, the morphological study by TEM revealed the size of the nanoparticles with a needlelike shape that had a length of 21.9 to 44.04 nm and a cross-sectional dimension of 7.15 to 7.83 nm. Factors like contact time, pH, and the initial concentration have been investigated. Furthermore, different isothermic and kinetic models have been also simulated to study the adsorption performance of CuFe2O4@HAp. The obtained results revealed that this adsorbent could be a promising, safe, and sustainable inexpensive material for the wastewater treatment processes.