Synthesis of anionic gemini surfactant-templated mesoporous silica nanoparticles and its adsorption application for Pb2+

Amino-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (AFMSN) were prepared based on the self-assembly process of the pre-fabricated template of anionic gemini surfactant. The perfect mass ration of the reactants for the synthesis of the AFMSN with high surface area and amino loading was optimized by orthogonal experiments. Adsorption capability of the optimized product for lead ion (Pb2+) was investigated in detail. Specially, the effects of the amino content, solution pH, adsorbent dosage, temperature, and interference of other metal ions on the removal efficiency of Pb2+ were studied. It is found that these factors can greatly affect the removal efficiency of Pb2+ and the prepared adsorbent exhibits the high adsorption selectivity for Pb2+. At an optimal condition, the AFMSN adsorbent presents an excellent adsorption capacity for Pb2+ up to 211.42 mg/g. The adsorption kinetics study revealed that the pseudo-second-order model could well describe the Pb2+ adsorption process, and the adsorption isotherm was fitted well with the Langmuir model. More importantly, the AFMSN adsorbent could be recycled 8 times and a high adsorption efficiency of Pb2+ could still be maintained. Therefore, the prepared AFMSN adsorbent may find practical application in removing Pb2+ from the polluted water.