Aluminum doped mesoporous silica SBA-15 for the removal of remazol yellow dye from water

Aluminum doped mesoporous silica SBA-15 was synthesized and characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption, X-rays diffraction, thermogravimetry, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The modified mesoporous silicas [Al]SBA-15 and [2Al]SBA-15 showed high sorption capacities of remazol yellow dye (RY) of about 0.971 and 0.821 mmol g(-1) respectively, when compared to original precursor silica SBA-15 (0.725 mmol g(-1)). The sorption kinetic of RY dye was slow and the equilibrium reached in 4-5 h. The effect of pH on sorption process was studied at room temperature and maximum dye sorption was achieved at pH 7. Kinetic data of RY sorption onto mesoporous silica was best fitted to second-order kinetic model. The equilibrium data were fitted to the Langmuir, Freundlich and Sips isotherm models. The obtained results suggest that doped mesoporous silica can be an efficient, cheap sorbent and convenient method for the removal of reactive dyes such a RY from industrial effluents. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.