Adsorption of congo red dyes using mesoporous silica MCM-48

Abstract

Research on the synthesis of mesoporous silica (MCM-48) has been carried out by utilizing MCM-48 as an adsorbent for congo red (CR) dye. MCM-48 was synthesized hydrothermally using ludox HS40 as a silica source, CTAB and Triton X-100 as a template. Characterization was performed using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The results showed that the optimum adsorption time of congo red by MCM-48 was 25 minutes. The adsorption capacity was determined by carrying out adsorption at various concentrations at the optimum time. Adsorption isotherms were determined using Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms with the adsorption capacity of MCM-48 of 185,185 mg/g. Through kinetics experiments that the adsorption process follows the pseudo-second-order kinetics equation model. This study shows that mesoporous carbon can be recommended as a good adsorbent.