Modification of bamboo-based activated carbon with magnetite coating as bioadsorbent for Fe(III) ion removal in coal mine wastewater

Modification of bamboo-based activated carbon with magnetite coating as bioadsorbent for adsorption of iron (III) metal ions in coal mine wastewater has been successfully conducted. The stages include physicochemical activation and magnetite coating. Activation was done physically through heating at 700°C and chemically using H3PO4. The magnetite coating was carried out using a mixture of FeCl3 and FeSO4 at 60°C in an alkaline environment. Characterization of the successfully synthesized material was carried out using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The morphological changes of the surface and the appearance of sharp peaks at 2θ 35.43°, 43.34°, and 63.30° on the diffractogram of the material confirmed the successful coating of magnetite on the surface of bamboo-based activated carbon (BAC). The presence of magnetite on the surface of BAC leads to increasing the specific surface area to 115.493 m2/g. The performance of BACM was evaluated through optimizing several parameters including adsorbent to adsorbate dosage and contact time variation. Application of BACM with the dosage of adsorbent to adsorbate is 1:100 (w/v) for 30 minutes resulting in an optimum adsorption percentage of 80.01%.