Abstract
The pollution caused by organic dyes in water bodies has become a major environmental issue, and removing such pernicious dyes presents an immense challenge for the scientific community and governments. In this study, a sorbent based on nickel ferrite (NiFe(2)O(4)) fibers was fabricated by the solution blow spinning (SBS) method for the adsorptive removal of anionic Cong red (CR) dye. The cubic-spinel structure and the magnetic and porous nature of NiFe(2)O(4) were confirmed by XRD, magnetometry, BET, and SEM analyses. The saturation magnetization confirmed the magnetic nature of the fibers, which favorably respond to an external magnetic field, facilitating separation from a treated solution. The sorption kinetics of CR on NiFe(2)O(4) were best described by the pseudo-second-order model, while sorption equilibrium agreed best with the Freundlich, Langmuir, Sips, and Temkin isotherm models, suggesting a complex mechanism involving chemisorption, monolayer coverage, and heterogeneous adsorption. The NiFe(2)O(4) fibers annealed at 500 °C showed a high CR removal efficiency of ~97% after only 30 min. The sorbent's porous structure and high specific surface area were responsible for the improved removal efficiency. Finally, the results indicated the potential of the NiFe(2)O(4) fibers in the remediation of water contaminated with Congo red dye.