Application of magnetic coagulant based on fractionated protein of Moringa oleifera Lam. seeds for aqueous solutions treatment containing synthetic dyes

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficiency of a new magnetic coagulant, obtained from Moringa oleifera seeds protein functionalized with iron oxide nanoparticles to remove four anionic synthetic dyes with coagulation/flocculation assays followed by magnetic sedimentation. The results showed that the presence of a magnetic field during sedimentation considerably accelerates the separation and increases the dye removal efficiency. Amaranth dye removal increased from 45 to 86% and Sunset Yellow from 15 to 69% with the presence of magnetic field, while Reactive Black 5 and Brilliant Blue reached 94% and 52% removal, respectively. For AM and SY dyes, the best protein concentration is 150 mg L −1 , for RB5 dye is 115 mg L −1 , and for BB dye is 75 mg L −1 . The sedimentation time decreased from 30 to 5 min with magnetic sedimentation. The residual value of AM dye decreased from 10.76 mg L −1 to approximately 2.71 mg L −1 , and with SY the residual concentration decreased from approximately 16.79 mg L −1 to 6.36 mg L −1 . The removal of BB and RB5 dyes reached an approximate final value of 48.2 mg L −1 (52%) and 1.18 mg L −1 (94%).