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One-Step Synthesis of Recyclable Ti-Doped Porous SiO2 Microspheres with Superior Structural Stability for Cationic Dye Adsorption

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Abstract

Dyes are hazardous to public health and the environment. Herein, we synthesized Ti-doped porous SiO2 microspheres utilizing a one-step sol-gel method as an effective adsorbent for the removal of cationic dyes from wastewater. The study of the varying individual parameters such as titanium-silica ratio, pH, adsorbent dose, and dye concentration indicated that the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) by Si3TiO10 microspheres exhibited excellent performance, including a wide range of applications (pH = 4–11), fast adsorption rate (15 min removed 90.8% of MB), high adsorption capacity (215.29 mg/g), excellent selectivity (adsorption capacity toward cationic dyes (98%) and < 5% toward anionic dyes), easy desorption steps, steady performance and multiple cycles (10 times). In addition, the adsorption process of MB by microspheres is consistent with the proposed second-order kinetic model (R2 = 0.999) and Langmuir isothermal model (RL2 = 0.997). With the assistance of FT-IR, XRD, XPS, BET, SEM, and TG-DTG techniques, it was demonstrated that the great pore size (8.15 nm) and large specific surface area (267.97 m2/g) of the microspheres could promote the contact between the active site and MB, thus achieving efficient removal of MB by using hydrogen bonding and electrostatic attraction. Furthermore, the unique spherical mesoporous structure, and the Si-O-Ti bond formed by the Ti doping rather than via simple wrapping and adhesion modification, which also ensured the stability of the microspheres during multiple cycles and the desorption process.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing (cstc2020jscx-msxmX0059) and the domestic waste resource treatment, provincial and ministerial, co-construction Collaborative Innovation Center Project of Chongqing University of Science and Technology (shljzyh2021-08).

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  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing, 401331, China

    Huishan Cai, Lin Zhang, Chengwei Zuo, Yuan Wei, Hao Wang, Zhenfu Jia & Xiaodong Su

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  1. Huishan Cai
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  2. Lin Zhang
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  4. Yuan Wei
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Huishan Cai: methodology, investigation, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. Lin Zhang: methodology, writing—review and editing. Chengwei Zuo: writing—review and editing. Yuan Wei: writing—review and editing. Hao Wang: writing—review and editing. Zhenfu Jia: funding acquisition and supervision. Xiaodong Su: conceptualization, writing—review and editing, funding acquisition, and supervision.

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Cai, H., Zhang, L., Zuo, C. et al. One-Step Synthesis of Recyclable Ti-Doped Porous SiO2 Microspheres with Superior Structural Stability for Cationic Dye Adsorption. Water Air Soil Pollut 234, 345 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06375-9

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