Studying the Adsorption Process of Riboflavin on Silver-Deposited Fe3O4 Nanoparticles

The adsorption characteristics of riboflavin onto silver-deposited iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (Ag/Fe3O4) have been described. Characterization of the synthesized Ag/Fe3O4 nanoparticles was achieved by FTIR spectra, TEM image and XRD pattern. The influence of several experimental parameters such as nanoparticles dosage, pH of the sample solution, different orientations of the riboflavin molecules toward Ag/Fe3O4 surface, riboflavin concentration, contact time of the reagents, temperature, ionic strength and presence of halide anions were studied. Experimental data indicated that Ag/Fe3O4 nanoparticles adsorb more than 90% of riboflavin under the optimum experimental conditions of the adsorbent dosage of 4.0 mg, a pH of 6.0, and a contact time of 2.0 min, when an initial riboflavin concentration of 0.02 mM is used. The results revealed that the presence of halide anions lower the adsorption of riboflavin on the surface of nanoparticles due to dissolution of the silver layer of the nanoparticles. It was found that the adsorption isotherm is best fitted to Dubinin-Radushkevich and Freundlich models and kinetic model followed a pseudo-second-order adsorption rate.