Adsorption of aniline from aqueous solution using novel adsorbent PAM/SiO2

In this paper, functional monomer acrylamide (AM) was grafted step by step onto the surface of silica gel particles using 3-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane (MPS) as coupling agent and the grafted particle PAM/SiO2 was prepared. The adsorption properties of PAM/SiO2 towards aniline were researched using batch and column adsorption methods. The experimental results showed that PAM/SiO2 possesses strong adsorption ability for aniline with interaction of hydrogen bond. The saturated adsorption amount could reach up to 52 mg g−1. The empirical Langmuir isotherm was found to describe well the equilibrium adsorption data. pH and temperature were found to have great influence on the adsorption amount. Finally, PAM/SiO2 was observed to possess excellent reusability properties as well.