Synthesis of magnetic alginate beads based on magnesium ferrite (MgFeO) nanoparticles for removal of Sr (II) from aqueous solution: kinetic, equilibrium and thermodynamic studies.

Novel magnetic alginate beads (MagAlgbeads) have been developed by incorporation of magnesium ferrite (MgFeO) in alginate beads with the aim of using them in the removal of strontium from aqueous solution. MagAlgbeads were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The adsorption of strontium onto MagAlgbeads were found to depend on pH and strontium removal increases with increasing pH until pH is 6. Strontium adsorption kinetics run through pseudo-second-order model. Thermodynamically, strontium adsorption was endothermic and spontaneous. Langmuir isotherm gave good fitting for strontium removal with adsorption capacity of 505.5 mg/g. These results proved that the prepared MagAlgbeads are very efficient material for strontium adsorption.