Amine Functionalized Kit-6 Mesoporous Magnetite Nanocomposite as an Efficient Adsorbent for Removal of Ponceau 4R Dye from Aqueous Solutions

In this study, amine functionalized Kit-6 silica mesoporous magnetite nanocomposite (NH2-MMNC) was synthesized by chemical methods and used as an efficient and recoverable adsorbent for removal of Ponceau 4R, as a toxic dye, from aqueous solutions. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, BET and SEM instruments. The effect of various experimental parameters on the dye removal efficiency was studied using Taguchi orthogonal array design (L9 array) method. Under optimum conditions (pH = 2, adsorbent amount = 80 mg, stirring time = 30 min and without addition of salt), removal efficiency was obtained higher than 98%. The kinetic studies showed rapid sorption dynamics by a second-order kinetic model with R = 0.9993 and qeq = 58.8 mg g, suggesting chemisorption mechanism. Dye adsorption equilibrium data were fitted well to the Langmuir isotherm and the synthesized sorbent showed complete removal efficiency. The maximum monolayer capacity of the sorbent (Qmax, mg g), and the Langmuir binding constant related to the energy of adsorption (KL, l mg), were obtained 87.7 and 0.407, respectively. The results of real samples show that the synthesized nanocomposite can be used as a recyclable and efficient adsorbent for removal of Ponceau 4R anionic dye from aqueous solutions.