Adsorptive removal of dihydrogenphosphate ion from aqueous solutions using mono, di- and tri-ammonium-functionalized SBA-15

Adsorption of monovalent phosphate anions from aqueous solutions on mono, di- and tri-ammonium-functionalized mesoporous SBA-15 silica was investigated. The adsorbent was prepared via a post-synthesis grafting method, using 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (N-silane), [1-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl]trimethoxysilane (NN-silane) and 1-[3-(trimethoxysilyl)-propyl]-diethylenetriamine (NNN-silane), followed by acidification in HCl solution to convert the attached surface amino groups to positively charged ammonium moieties. The loading of amino moieties on the SBA-15 surface was varied from 5% to 40% as organoalkoxysilane/silica molar ratio. The adsorption experiments were conducted batchwise at room temperature. Results showed that adsorption capacity increased with increasing the concentration of functional groups on the SBA-15 adsorbent whatever the nature of the functional group. In the case of monoammonium functional groups, the adsorption capacity increased from 0.64 to 1.07 mmol H2PO4-/g when the molar ratio organoalkoxysilane/silica was varied from 5% to 40%, respectively. Similar tendency was observed in the case of diammonium and triammonium organic functional groups. Also, for the same organoalkoxysilane/silica molar ratio, the adsorption capacity increased markedly with the increase of the number of protonated amines in the functional groups. Therefore, maximum adsorption capacities of 1.07, 1.70 and 2.46 mmol H2PO4-/g adsorbent were obtained using mono-, di- and tri-ammonium-functionalized SBA-15, respectively.

Graphical abstractSBA-15 mesoporous materials grafted with mono-, di- and triammonium organic functional groups proved to be potent adsorbents for the removal of monobasic phosphate (H2PO4-) anions from aqueous solutions even at high concentrations. The synthesized materials demonstrated high adsorption capacities reaching 2.46 mmol H2PO4-/g adsorbent.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (102 K)Download as PowerPoint slide