Application of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Modified with Dibenzoylmethane as a Novel Composite for Efficient Removal of Cd(II), Hg(II), and Cu(II) Ions from Aqueous Media

Abstract

In this paper, a novel composite was synthesized through the modification of mesoporous silica nanoparticles with dibenzoylmethane and used for the removal of Cu(II), Hg(II), and Cd(II) ions from aqueous media. The structure of the novel composite was identified using FT-IR, XRD, CHN, and SEM techniques. Kinetic studies elucidated the relevance of the pseudo-second-order model for the removal of Cd(II) ions while the pseudo-first-order controlled the removal of Cu(II) or Hg(II) ions. Also, equilibrium studies elucidated that the removal of Cd(II), Hg(II), or Cu(II) ions followed the Langmuir isotherm. The synthesized composite possesses maximum adsorption capacity equals 35.37, 25.17, and 31.76 mg g−1 in the case of Cd(II), Hg(II), and Cu(II) ions, respectively. The removal processes were chemisorption in nature and the % desorption of Cd(II), Hg(II), and Cu(II) ions was 99.12, 99.07, and 98.37%, respectively using 0.5 V/V% HCl: water as eluting media. The regeneration of the composite is judged by noticing the % removal of metal ions or the adsorption capacity which remained almost constant after five regeneration cycles.