Efficient removal of methylene blue by turbostratic carbon/Fe3C/Fe composite synthesized by catalytic graphitization of sucrose

Turbostratic carbon/Fe3C/Fe composite was prepared by catalytic graphitization of sucrose by α-Fe2O3. The synthesized composites were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XRD patterns revealed the formation of turbostratic carbon with a d spacing of 0.3412 nm and the presence of Fe3C and Fe nanoparticles. Raman spectrum exhibited the D, G and G' peaks. XPS analysis shows the presence of graphitic carbon and +3 oxidation state of iron. Synthesized composite can remove methylene blue with an adsorption capacity of 17.8 mg/g at pH 7. Adsorption follows pseudo second order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm model. As the synthesized composite is magnetic it could be easily separated from the mixture and could be reused effectively without significant activity loss for five cycles.