Synthesis and characterization of Fe3O4-Activated carbon and it's application to adsorb methylene blue

Abstract

Synthesis and characterization of Fe3O4-Activated Carbon (Fe3O4-AC) and the application to adsorb methylene blue has been conducted. The Fe3O4-AC was synthesized using the co-precipitation method on alkaline conditions. The Fe3O4 was prepared from mixing mole ratio of Fe3+ and Fe2+ = 3:2, and AC was made from an egg rack. Composite of Fe3O4-AC was characterized using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). FTIR characterization was indicated the appearance peak of a C-O vibration at 1033.85 cm-1 and a functional group of Fe-O at 540.07 cm-1. XRD pattern of Fe3O4-AC was the presence peak of crystal structure Fe3O4, even though it's small intensity. SEM image of Fe3O4-AC was spherical with the denser pore of structure. The saturation magnetization of Fe3O4-AC was lower than Fe3O4. The result showed that adsorption of methylene blue on Fe3O4-AC and AC was optimum at pH 7. The sorption of methylene blue on Fe3O4-AC and AC was 126.043 and 102.82 mg/g, respectively. The performance of Fe3O4-AC was greater than that of AC.