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Synthesis of silver decorated silica nanoparticles with rough surfaces as adsorbent and catalyst for methylene blue removal

  • Original Paper: Sol-gel and hybrid materials for energy, environment and building applications
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Abstract

The discharge of dyes from industries to water reservoirs has attracted extensive attention worldwide, and it is of great importance to remove them efficiently. In this study, a series of silica nanoparticles with rough surfaces was prepared, and highly dispersed silver nanoparticles were loaded on its surface through a simple wet-impregnation method. The adsorption performance and catalytic activity of the as-prepared Ag/SiO2 for methylene blue (MB) removal was investigated. The results demonstrated that the Ag/SiO2 with smaller particle size and higher Ag loading amount shows high adsorption capacity and catalytic activity for MB. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be ~55 mg/g, which is more than two times of pure silica nanoparticles. Besides, MB could be degraded by more than 99% of the initial concertation (40 mg/L) within 3 min and rate constant of the catalytic reduction achieved as high as 2.128 min−1. Moreover, the as-prepared Ag/SiO2 shows good stability in acidic environment and excellent reusability for at least eight successive cycles of adsorption and four cycles of catalytic reduction.

Highlights

  • Highly dispersed Ag nanoparticles on rough surface of silica spheres were prepared.

  • Ag decorated silica shows good adsorption and catalytic capability for MB removal.

  • MB could be catalytically degraded to < 1% of the initial concentration within 3 min.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2018XKQYMS18) and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Coal Processing and Efficient Utilization (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering & Technology, China University of Mining and Technology, XuZhou, 221116, PR China

    Mengqing Hu, Xinlong Yan, Xiaoyan Hu, Rui Feng & Min Zhou

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  1. Mengqing Hu
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  2. Xinlong Yan
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  3. Xiaoyan Hu
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  5. Min Zhou
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Correspondence to Xinlong Yan.

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Hu, M., Yan, X., Hu, X. et al. Synthesis of silver decorated silica nanoparticles with rough surfaces as adsorbent and catalyst for methylene blue removal. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 89, 754–763 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-018-4871-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-018-4871-z

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