Kinetic studies of Pb and Ni adsorption onto MCM-41 amine-functionalized nano particle

In the current investigation a novel nano hybrid adsorbent MCM-41/N-(3-trimethoxysilyl)-propyl)diethylenetriamine (MCM-41/TMSPDETA) was prepared and was characterized using DLS (Dynamic Light Scattering), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analytical techniques and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The synthesized MCM-41/TMSPDETA adsorbent possessed high surface area (867 m2g−1), narrow pore size distribution (3.6 nm) and pore volume (0.782 cm3g−1). The nano hybrid adsorbent was applied in batch experiments under different controlling factors by varing pH, contact time and solution temperature of Lead (Pb(II)) and Nickel (Ni(II)) ions. Optimum conditions obtained were 20°C, pH=6 and contact time of 120 min. The maximum capacity of the nano-sorbent was obtained to be 58.823 and 20.921 mg g−1 for Pb (II) and Ni (II) ions for an initial concentration range 10-70 mgL-1. Pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and intraparticle diffusion models were used to analyze the kinetic data. Results showed that the pseudo-second order model can well describe the adsorption kinetic data.