Phosphate Ion Removal from Synthetic and Real Wastewater Using MnFe2O4 Nanoparticles: A Reusable Adsorbent

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to eliminate phosphate (P) from wastewater using MnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles. BET, TGA/DTG, FTIR, SEM, TEM, VSM, XRD and EDX/Map analyses were used to determine the MnFe₂O₄ surface properties. The specific surface area of the adsorbent was 196.56 m²/g and VSM analysis showed that the adsorbent has a ferromagnetic property. The maximum P sorption efficiency using MnFe₂O₄ (98.52%) was achieved at pH 6, temperature of 55 °C, P concentration of 10 mg/L, time of 60 min, and sorbent dosage of 2.5 g/L, which is a significant value. Also, the thermodynamic study indicated that the P sorption process is spontaneous and endothermic. Moreover, the utmost sorption capacity of P using MnFe₂O₄ was 39.48 mg/g. Besides, MnFe₂O₄ can be used for up to 6 reuse cycles with high sorption efficiency (>91%). Also, MnFe₂O₄ was able to remove phosphate, COD, and BOD₅ from municipal wastewater with considerable removal efficiencies of 82.7%, 75.8%, and 77.3%, respectively.