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Abstract

Nanomaterials, especially nanoparticles (NPs), have recently directed studies on mitigating water pollution due to their essential characteristics that make them very useful as sorbents. Here, a   co-precipitation method is used to synthesize magnetite iron oxide  (Fe3O4) NPs in order to employ them for remediating heavy metal-polluted effluents. The resulting Fe3O4 NPs are characterized by different techniques and tested for the removal of heavy metals from effluents of inner rivers in Basrah city, Iraq. FE-SEM analysis reveals spherical-like morphology of the NPs with an average size of 34.90 nm and zeta potential measurement indicates the presence of negative charge on their surface. Meanwhile, based on BET analysis, the surface area of the NPs is found to be 35.87 m2/g. Adsorption experiments are utilized to select optimal conditions, taking into consideration of the influence of contact time, temperature and pH for heavy metal removal from simulated or polluted effluents. The results obtained demonstrate a high removal percentage ....................