Micro/nanoscale magnesium silicate with hierarchical structure for removing dyes in water

Micro/nanoscale magnesium silicate with hierarchical structure was synthesized by hydrothermal method using mesoporous silica SBA-15 as silicon source. The samples with well crystallinity were composed of high density nanopetals, endowing the particles with rough and porous surface. The BET surface area and the pore volume were 411 m2/g and 0.45 cm3/g, respectively. The pore-size distribution at 4.18 nm was close to that of SBA-15. The sample showed fast adsorption rate and high adsorption capacity of 353 mg/g for methylene blue. Furthermore, the adsorption process and the adsorption isotherm of methylene blue followed well with pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir adsorption models, respectively.