Simple Chemical Route Synthesis of Fe 2 O 3 Nanoparticles and its Application for Adsorptive Removal of Congo Red from Aqueous Media: Artificial Neural Network Modeling

Nanocrystalline Fe2O3 powder was synthesized by a simple chemical route involving FeCl3 and NaOH. The Fe2O3 powder thus prepared was characterized using x-ray diffraction study, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The adsorption properties of crystalline Fe2O3 powder have been investigated with an aim to explore a possible low cost and efficient way to remove Congo red (CR) from waste water. Fe2O3 powder was found as an excellent adsorbent for CR from aqueous medium. Adsorption capacity as much as 203.66 mg g−1 is reported at room temperature. Effect of different experimental parameters such as reaction pH, initial CR dye concentration, adsorbent dose, and reaction temperature were studied on adsorption capacity of Fe2O3 powder and modeled by artificial neural network (ANN). Optimal ANN structure (4–5–1) shows minimum mean squared error (MSE) of 0.00235 and determination coefficient (R2) of 0.991 with Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm. Isotherm analysis of experimental data exhibited better fit to the Langmuir isotherm. The adsorption process was found to follow second-order kinetics as depicted by the analysis of experimental results. Thermodynamic study shows that the adsorption process is endothermic, spontaneous, and thermodynamically favorable in the temperature range of 27°C to 60°C.