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Recovery of silica from electronic waste for the synthesis of cubic MCM-48 and its application in preparing ordered mesoporous carbon molecular sieves using a green approach

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Abstract

The electronics industry is one of the world’s fastest growing manufacturing industries. However, e-waste has become a serious pollution problem. This study reports the recovery of e-waste for preparing valuable MCM-48 and ordered mesoporous carbon for the first time. Specifically, this study adopts an alkali-extracted method to obtain sodium silicate precursors from electronic packaging resin ash. The influence of synthesis variables such as gelation pH, neutral/cationic surfactant ratio, hydrothermal treatment temperature, and calcination temperature on the mesophase of MCM-48 materials is investigated. Experimental results confirm that well-ordered cubic MCM-48 materials were synthesized in strongly acidic and strongly basic media. The resulting mesoporous silica had a high surface area of 1,317 m2/g, mean pore size of about 3.0 nm, and a high purity of 99.87 wt%. Ordered mesoporous carbon with high surface area (1,715 m2/g) and uniform pore size of CMK-1 type was successfully prepared by impregnating MCM-48 template using the resin waste. The carbon structure was sensitive to the sulfuric acid concentration and carbonization temperature. Converting e-waste into MCM-48 materials not only eliminates the disposal problem of e-waste, but also transforms industrial waste into a useful nanomaterial.

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Acknowledgments

The author expresses thanks to the National Science Council of Taiwan for its financial support under Project No. NSC 96-2221-E-131-001.

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  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, 84 Gungjuan Rd., Taishan, New Taipei, 24301, Taiwan

    Tzong-Horng Liou

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  1. Tzong-Horng Liou
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Correspondence to Tzong-Horng Liou.

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Special Issue Editors: Mamadou Diallo, Neil Fromer, Myung S. Jhon

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Nanotechnology for Sustainable Development

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Liou, TH. Recovery of silica from electronic waste for the synthesis of cubic MCM-48 and its application in preparing ordered mesoporous carbon molecular sieves using a green approach. J Nanopart Res 14, 869 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-012-0869-6

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