Abstract

• In recent years, materials with porous structure and high surface area are being developed for several applications in nanotechnology. The present research deals with a study on the preparation and characterization of CaFeO3 nanocrystalline powder and its coagulation performance in a bentonite clay sample solution and river water. CaFeO3 nanocrystalline powder was synthesized by citric acid sol-gel combustion method using citric acid and ethylene glycol as a fuel and the corresponding metal nitrates as oxidizers. The resulting xerogel was thermally treated in the muffle furnace at different temperatures (300 °C, 400 °C and 500 °C) for a maximum of 4 h each. The thermal behavior of samples was determined by Thermal-Gravimetric and Differential Thermal Analysis (TG-DTA). The prepared powder samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT IR). X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to study the transformation from precursor powders to rhombohedral crystals by calcination. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis showed the porous nature of the prepared powders. Physicochemical properties of the prepared nanocrystalline powder such as pH, moisture contact, bulk density and surface area also studied. Bentonite clay sample solution and river water sample were used to investigate the coagulation activity of the prepared CaFeO3 nanocrystalline powder in terms of reducing turbidity.