Performance of a rotating packed bed with blade packings in synthesizing nano-sized Fe3O4 particles

Nano-sized Fe3O4 particles were continuously synthesized in the rotating packed bed with blade packings where the rotational speed was set at 1800 rpm, the liquid flow rate of aqueous FeCl2/FeCl3 was kept at 0.5 L/min, and the liquid flow rate of aqueous NaOH was maintained at 0.5 L/min with the chemical co-precipitation route that the synthesis temperature was fixed at 25°C, the FeCl2 concentration was fixed at 0.15 mol/L, the FeCl3 concentration was fixed at 0.3 mol/L, and the NaOH concentration was fixed at 1.2 mol/L. The average crystallite size and mean particle size of the as-synthesized nano-sized Fe3O4 particles were 12.7 nm and 10.9 nm, respectively. The rate of continuous synthesis of nano-sized Fe3O4 particles was 23.6 kg/day. The as-synthesized nano-sized Fe3O4 particles exhibited a superparamagnetic characteristic at 25°C. Furthermore, the saturation magnetization of the as-synthesized nano-sized Fe3O4 particles was 66.4 emu/g. The maximum Orange G adsorption capacity of the as-synthesized nano-sized Fe3O4 particles at 25°C and pH 3 was 55.0 mg/g. This maximum Orange G adsorption capacity was much higher than that (5.7 mg/g) of the commercial nano-sized Fe3O4 particles that were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (SA-Fe3O4) because the as-synthesized nano-sized Fe3O4 particles had a smaller mean particle size. Accordingly, the as-synthesized nano-sized Fe3O4 particles are a promising magnetic adsorbent in the removal of Orange G from water.