Mesoporous materials functionalized with polyaniline for the removal of the phenol from the aqueous solution

Abstract

The functionalization of mesoporous solids with polyaniline (PANI) is explored as an alternative for the adsorption of phenol. It investigates the impact of the nature of the surface (homogeneous SBA-15 vs. heterogeneous Bone Char, BC) on adsorption efficiency. The results highlight that incorporating PANI into mesoporous materials intensifies π-π interactions, thereby enhancing the adsorption of aromatic compounds like phenol for SBA-15:SBA-15/PANI in a ratio of 1:2.3, and for BC:BC/PANI in a ratio of 1:1.8. The PANI functionalization decrease the surface area of the SBA-15 and BC in 32.9% and 57% respectively, but interaction and chemical properties of the composites allow increase the phenol adsorption. The phenol adsorption on SBA-15, Char, SBA-15/PANI, and BC/PANI follows the pseudo second-order kinetic with R2 = 0.994 and intraparticle diffusion. The maximum adsorption capacity was estimated to be SBA-15 (121.8 mg g−1), SBA-15/PANI (283.8 mg g−1), BC (21.59 mg g−1), and BC/PANI 38.59 mg g−1), this means that PANI allows exceeding the adsorption capacities than the original adsorbents.