Congo red dye removal using copper and cobalt ferrite nanoparticles

The synthesis and applications of ferrite nanoparticles for wastewater treatment are becoming one of the actively researched areas. Among the various methods available for synthesis, the co-precipitation method is one of the most preferred options in terms of simplicity as well as the possibility of scaling up of the products and controlling the morphology and properties of ferrite nano particles. Copper ferrite and cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized by coprecipitation method and surface characterization with SEM-EDAX, XRD, FTIR, TGA was done to understand morphology, composition and functional groups of CuFN and CoFN. The potential of copper ferrite as well as cobalt ferrite nanoparticles as an adsorbent for the removal of Congo red (CR) dye was studied under the influence of contact time 10–180 min and adsorbent dosage 0.1–0.7 g l−1. With increase in adsorbent dosage from 0.1 to 0.7 g l−1, CR dye removal by copper ferrite nanoparticles increased from 28.47% to 85%, while for cobalt ferrite nanoparticles, the increase was from 13% to 74.59%. Kinetics of CR dye removal with CuFN and CoFN followed second order kinetics. The study demonstrated CuFN and CoFN as an efficient adsorbent for CR dye removal.