Inorganic particles/silica/polyacrylamide nanocomposite: as a potential application in water treatment

To develop an effective and novel adsorbent material consisting of three-layered core–shell particles with magnetic and photocatalytic properties, this study has utilized a sol–gel technique to synthesize Fe₃O₄/SiO₂/TiO₂/PAM (polyacrylamide) nanocomposite (FSTP NCs)-functionalized Fe₃O₄/SiO₂/TiO₂NPs as core and PAM as shell for water purification. The surface of the TiO₂ layer has been treated with silane A-174 (AA) as a coupling agent. In the final step, NPs were coated with PAM as an organic layer through radical polymerization of AA, to prepare a well-structured nanocomposite. FTIR, SEM, EDX, TEM, XRD, and VSM were applied to investigate the novel composed bonds, morphological properties of the surface and elemental analysis, core–shell structures, NPs size, samples phase and superparamagnetism of the NC and NPs, respectively. The R² values in three models of Langmuir (0.89), Freundlich (0.84), and Dubinin-Radushkevich (0.98) were calculated and the isotherm model followed a model with the highest R². The maximum efficiency of arsenate removal was recorded in 0.1 g concentration of adsorbent, pH 2, contact time of 700 min, and ion concentration of 50 mg/L.