In English

Abstract

Aromatic compounds are organic contaminants in aqueous streams of various industries. Even at low concentration, benzene and its derivatives are toxic agents. Silicas are promising materials for benzene and phenol adsorption from water mixtures due to their unique physical and chemical properties. In this research, we realized sol-gel synthesis of β-cyclodextrin-MCM 41 silica using β-cyclodextrin-containing silane and tetraethyl orthosilicate as silica sources in the presence of ionic template (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide). β-Cyclodextrin-silane was prepared by modification of (3 aminopropyl)triethoxysilane with oligosaccharide activated by N,N'-carbonyldiimidazole. The successful incorporation of β-cyclodextrin moieties in silica is verified by means of FT-IR spectroscopy and quantitative chemical analysis. Obtained β-cyclodextrin-MCM 41 silica was characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and low-temperature adsorption-desorption of nitrogen. On the basis of analysis, β-cyclodextrin-MCM 41 silica is well-ordered mesoporous material with high surface area (about 800 m 2 g –1 ) and sufficient oligosaccharide group loading (up to 0.022 µmol m –2 ). Adsorption of benzene and phenol from aqueous solutions on β-cyclodextrin-MCM 41 silica was studied as the function of time and equilibrium concentration. Greater specificity of aromatic compounds adsorption for β-cyclodextrin-MCM-41 silica in comparison with MCM-41 was demonstrated. Moreover, the higher adsorption performance of β cyclodextrin MCM 41 silica towards benzene and their adsorptive affinity to phenol can be useful in the separation of aromatic compounds. The proposed synthesis approach may be applicable for obtaining of ordered β-cyclodextrin-containing functional materials with high affinity to aromatic compounds of suitable geometry for water treatment.