One-pot synthesis of novel 3D graphene/Fe3O4/agro-based waste material (Sesamum indicum) nanocomposite for wastewater treatment and artificial neural network modeling

Abstract

A One-Step hydrothermal process was applied in this study to synthesize magnetic Fe3O4/3D graphene/Sesamum indicum nanocomposite (M3DGSN). Acid Red 88 (AR88) was set at the target pollutant to be adsorbed and removed by the synthesized nanocomposite from the aqueous media. Field Emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometery, and X-Ray diffraction analyses were applied to characterize the product. Artificial neural network modeling has also been employed in the adsorption process of AR88 using M3DGSN. Adsorption studies were performed in the dye concentration range of 5–30 mg L-1 with the adsorbent weight of 25–100 mg. It was observed that the dye removal efficiency using M3DGSN was dependent on different operational parameters and increased with rising pH, time, and weight of M3DGSN. Also, decreasing the dye concentration demonstrated the enhancement of dye removal efficiency. The optimum adsorbent amount and dye concentrations were observed to be 100 mg and 5 mg L-1, respectively. Also, the optimum removal performance was seen at the pH of 9.