Abstract
Solar-moderated adsorptions of indigo carmine and methylene blue dyes were investigated using manganese and zinc ferrite capped with biochar prepared from the root of Chromolaena odorata. TEM micrograph of the as-prepared manganese ferrite nanocomposites (MnFe(2)O(4)@BC) revealed octagonally shaped particles with an average size of 42.64 nm while the zinc ferrite nanocomposite (ZnFe(2)O(4)@BC) micrograph revealed mixtures of rod- and cone-shaped particles with an average size of 43.82 nm. Biochar capping of MnFe(2)O(4)@BC reduced the band gap from 3.63 to 2.08 eV. The nanocomposite surface areas were 197.64 and 92.14 m(2)/g for MnFe(2)O(4)@BC and ZnFe(2)O(4)@BC, respectively. Photoadsorption of the as-prepared nanocomposites showed that 10 mg of ZnFe(2)O(4)@BC effectively removed 69.07 and 98.60% of 70 mg/L indigo carmine and methylene blue dyes while MnFe(2)O(4)@BC removed 77.65 and 94.83% of indigo carmine and methylene blue dyes after 2 h of equilibration under visible light irradiation, respectively. The nonlinear form of the Langmuir isotherm had a better approximation to the experimental solid-phase concentration (q (e)) for the adsorption of indigo carmine dye using both nanocomposites. In contrast, the linear form gave a better goodness-of-fit for the adsorptions of methylene blue dye. The manganese ferrite (MnFe(2)O(4)@BC) and zinc ferrite (ZnFe(2)O(4)@BC) nanocomposites showed no inhibition of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, which indicates that they could be used for both biological and environmental applications.