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Silica Nanoparticles Modified with Trithiocyanuric Acid as a Potential Adsorbent for Removal of Ag+ from Aqueous Solutions

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Abstract

Surface modification of the silica nanoparticles was performed using trithiocyanuric acid (TCA-SNPs) so as to enhance the adsorption of Ag+ from aqueous solutions. The surface modification to the adsorbent was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The Ag+ adsorption capacity was found to increase with increase in the solution pH, with the optimal pH being 5.0. The Ag+ adsorption isotherm was generated at 25 °C at the optimal solution pH and the maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 80 mg/g, significantly higher than the adsorption capacity reported for other adsorbents in literature. The increase in adsorption capacity was attributed to the presence of thiol groups on the surface of the modified adsorbents. Additionally, the adsorption kinetics was estimated at 25 °C, which indicated very high rates of adsorption initially, with rapid reduction in rate of adsorption with time. Both adsorption isotherms as well as the adsorption kinetics were modeled with popular models. The adsorption isotherm was found to match with the Langmuir model while the adsorption kinetics was found to match with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The adsorption-desorption cycles indicate the TCA-SNPs to be stable adsorption performance and retain high adsorption efficiency ensuring commercial adoption. A relatively low adsorption of other ions such as Mn2+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Co3+ as compared to Ag+ was ensured.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation (Nos. 51464024 and 51664037), the Yunnan Province Young Academic Technology Leader Reserve Talents (2012HB008), and the Yunnan Province Natural Science Foundation (2013FB096).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Complex Nonferrous Metal Resources Clean Utilization, Kunming, 650093, China

    Likang Fu, Libo Zhang, Shixing Wang, Jinhui Peng & Gengwei Zhang

  2. National Local Joint Laboratory of Engineering Application of Microwave Energy and Equipment Technology, Kunming, 650093, China

    Likang Fu, Libo Zhang, Shixing Wang, Jinhui Peng & Gengwei Zhang

  3. Faculty of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China

    Likang Fu, Libo Zhang, Shixing Wang, Jinhui Peng & Gengwei Zhang

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  1. Likang Fu
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  2. Libo Zhang
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  4. Jinhui Peng
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  5. Gengwei Zhang
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Correspondence to Shixing Wang.

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Fu, L., Zhang, L., Wang, S. et al. Silica Nanoparticles Modified with Trithiocyanuric Acid as a Potential Adsorbent for Removal of Ag+ from Aqueous Solutions. Water Air Soil Pollut 228, 273 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-017-3464-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-017-3464-8

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