Adsorption kinetics and thermodynamics of organophosphorus profenofos pesticide onto Fe/Ni bimetallic nanoparticles

Bimetallic Fe/Ni nanoparticles were synthesized and used for the removal of profenofos organophosphorus pesticide from aqueous solution. These novel bimetallic nanoparticles (Fe/Ni) were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The effect of the parameters of initial pesticide concentration, pH of the solution, adsorbent dosage, temperature, and contact time on adsorption was investigated. The adsorbent exhibited high efficiency for profenofos adsorption, and equilibrium was achieved in 8 min. The Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherm models were used to determine equilibrium. The Langmuir model showed the best fit with the experimental data (R² = 0.9988). Pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intra-particle diffusion models were tested to determine absorption kinetics. The pseudo-second-order model provided the best correlation with the results (R² = 0.99936). The changes in the thermodynamic parameters of Gibb’s free energy, enthalpy, and entropy of the adsorption process were also evaluated. Thermodynamic parameters indicate that profenofos adsorption using Fe/Ni nanoparticles is a spontaneous and endothermic process. The value of the activation energy (E_a = 109.57 kJ/mol) confirms the nature of the chemisorption of profenofos onto Fe/Ni adsorbent.

Keywords
Chemisorption; Environmental remediation; Isotherm model; Thermodynamic parameters