Preparation of Nanohybrid CuO-Fe3O4/Zeolite Nanocomposite as Potential Adsorbent for Toxic As (V) and Pb(II) from Water Solution

In this paper; novel Nanohybrid CuO-Fe3O4/Zeolite nanocomposites (HCFZ NCs) were synthesized to improve the adsorption capacity and activity for removing the Arsenic and Lead cations from the contaminated water solutions. The nanohybrid 4, 10, and 20 -HCFZ NC samples were investigated by XRD, FT-IR, TEM, FESEM, EDX, and BET. The characterization results confirmed the presence of CuO and Fe3O4 NPs having nanospherical shapes as Nanohybrid Cu and Fe oxides on the zeolite surface. Notably, the 10-HCFZ NC sample showed the highest removal efficiency for harmful metallic pollutants from the water in comparison to the prepared neat zeolite, 4-HCFZ NC, and 20-HCFZ NC samples, with a percentage removal of 97.9% for Pb ions and 93.5% for As ions within 30 minutes (100 ppm). According to the adsorption isotherms results, R-2 values for the Langmuir isotherm were the highest, suggesting that the experimental results fit better the Langmuir isotherm model. Generally, according to the obtained results, there is a possibility of enhancing the efficiency of Nanohybrid CuO-Fe3O4/Zeolite NCs to remove Arsenic and Lead ions from polluted aqueous solutions.