Preparation of flower-like Co₃O₄ microspheres for adsorption of basic fuchsin from waste water

In this paper, two kinds of flower-like Co₃O₄ hollow microspheres were synthesized by solvothermal process. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption instrument, UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis), infrared spectrometer(FT-IR) were used to characterize the size, crystal structure, pore properties of the Co₃O₄ hollow microspheres. The results showed that the two kinds of Co₃O₄ microspheres are micron-sized, cubic phase spinel structure, and the specific surface area were 26.77 and 2.51 m²/g, respectively. The adsorption and regeneration properties of the two kinds of Co₃O₄ microspheres to basic fuchsin were compared. The study results showed that the two kinds of Co₃O₄ microspheres exhibited high adsorption capacities and excellent regeneration ability to basic fuchsin. The solid-phase adsorbate concentration at equilibrium was 2.7 mg/g. After recycling 6 times, the adsorption efficiency was still above 60%.