Efficient Removal of Cr(VI) with Fe/Mn Mixed Metal Oxide Nanocomposites Synthesized by a Grinding Method

Fe/Mn mixed metal oxides were synthesized facilely by a grinding method and were characterized by TEM, XRD, XPS, and BET. The characterization results revealed that mixed metal oxides were mainly composed of not highly crystallized Fe2O3 and Mn3O4 nanoparticles with a diameter about 3–5 nm. The specific BET surface areas of the composite were affected by the amounts of KCl diluent in the preparation process and about 268 m2/g of the composite can be achieved. Compared with metal oxide adsorbents existent, the composites showed good adsorption capacity, stability, and regeneration activity for Cr(VI) removal. The enhanced adsorption capacity was speculated to be ascribed to the synergistic effect of the mixed metal oxides. By monitoring the valence change in the adsorption process using XPS characterization, the mechanism for Cr(VI) removal on the composites was found to be a combination of electrostatic attraction and ion exchange. The above results demonstrated that the synthesized metal oxides nanocomposite is of great potential for Cr(VI) removal in the fields of remediation of environmental problems