Removal of aflatoxin B from contaminated peanut oils using magnetic attapulgite.

The efficient magnetic adsorbent (FeO@ATP) was prepared by precipitation through the dispersion of FeO nanoparticles on the natural attapulgite (ATP) and then tested as an adsorbent for aflatoxin B (AFB) removal from contaminated oils. The adsorbent characterization results revealed that the FeO were incorporated into the ATP, affording the FeO@ATP composite. This magnetic composite displayed a good ability to eliminate AFB from contaminated oils with a removal efficiency of 86.82% using a 0.3% dosage. The FeO@ATP possessed paramagnetic character with a saturation magnetization of 50.86 emu/g, enabling its easy separation from the medium using an external magnet. The adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order model and fitted the Freundlich isotherm well. Moreover, the thermodynamic studies showed that AFB adsorption onto FeO@ATP was exothermic and spontaneous. The novelty of this study lies in the fabrication of magnetic composite adsorbents for AFB elimination from oils.