Preparation, characterization and application of p-tert-butyl-calix[4]arene-SBA-15 mesoporous silica molecular sieves

p-tert-Butyl-calix[4]arene-SBA-15 mesoporous silica molecular sieves have been prepared and characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements. FT-IR spectra showed the presence of methylene (-CH2-), methyl (-CH3) and phenyl bands on the modified SBA-15. Powder XRD data indicated the structure of p-tert-butyl-calix[4]arene-SBA-15 remained the host SBA-15 structure. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis revealed a decrease in surface area and pore size. The adsorption capacity of the materials to diethylstilbestrol and bisphenol A was studied via the dynamic adsorption experiments. The maximum dynamic adsorption capacity on modified materials was 34.8 and 2.9 times higher than SBA-15 particles for diethylstilbestrol and bisphenol A, respectively. The results indicated that p-tert-butyl-calix[4]arene-SBA-15 particles could be used to the enrich the various compounds in water samples before the further analysis.