Efficient Removal of Methylene Blue Using a Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Hydrogel Nanocomposite Adsorbent Based on Sodium Alginate–Silicone Dioxide

In this work, we reported synthesis, structure characterization and methylene blue (MB) adsorption of a novel organic–inorganic hydrogel nanocomposite adsorbent (HNA) based on sodium alginate (NaAlg) and silicone dioxide nanoparticles (SiO2-NPs). The HNAs were prepared using grafting of acrylic acid (AA) onto NaAlg by using ammonium persulfate as a free radical initiator and methylene bisacrylamide as a crosslinker in the presence of SiO2-NPs, which synthesized in situ from the base-catalyzed hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS). The structure of HNAs were characterized by FTIR, SEM, EDX, TEM, XRD, UV–Vis and TGA techniques and a proposed mechanism for preparation of adsorbents was also suggested. The swelling capacity of HNAs was examined in buffer solutions with pH ranged 1.0–14.0. The nanocomposites exhibited a pH-responsiveness character so that a swelling-deswelling pulsatile behavior was recorded at pHs 2.0 and 9.0. The swelling kinetics of HNA was also preliminary investigated. Moreover, the effects of agitation time, pH, initial dye concentration, adsorbent dose, TEOS content, AA concentration and temperature were optimized with respect to dye adsorption capacity of HNAs in detail. Furthermore, the kinetic and adsorption isotherm of MB dye onto HNAs were investigated in detail. The HNAs also showed excellent regeneration capacity after five consecutive cycles of dye adsorption–desorption. In general, the results indicated that the synthesized adsorbents with biodegradability and biocompability properties can be used in wastewater treatment via dye adsorption.