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 and under optimum conditions (pH = 2, adsorbent amount = 80 mg, stirring time = 30 min and without addition of salt) removal efficiency higher than 98% was obtained.The kinetic studies showed rapid sorption dynamics by a second-order kinetic model with R2=0.9993 and qeq= 58.8 mg g-1, 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-1), and the Langmuir binding constant which is related to the energy of adsorption (KL, L mg-1), were obtained as 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.