Synthesis of a novel multifunctional organic-inorganic nanocomposite for metal ions and organic dye removals

Ahmed Elmekawy; Qui Quach; Tarek M Abdel-Fattah

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-38420-2

Synthesis of a novel multifunctional organic-inorganic nanocomposite for metal ions and organic dye removals

Sci Rep. 2023 Aug 8;13(1):12845. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-38420-2.

Authors

Ahmed Elmekawy^{1

2}, Qui Quach¹, Tarek M Abdel-Fattah^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Applied Research Center at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and Department of Molecular Biology and Chemistry at Christopher, Newport University, Newport News, VA, 23606, USA.
² Department of Physics, Tanta University, Tanta, Al Gharbiyah, Egypt.
³ Applied Research Center at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and Department of Molecular Biology and Chemistry at Christopher, Newport University, Newport News, VA, 23606, USA. fattah@cnu.edu.
⁴ Faculty of Sciences, Alexandria University, P.O. Box 426, Ibrahimia, 21321, Alexandria, Egypt. fattah@cnu.edu.

Abstract

In this study, we used solvent assisted mechano-synthesis strategies to form multifunctional organic-inorganic nanocomposites capable of removing both organic and inorganic contaminants. A zeolite X (Ze) and activated carbon (AC) composite was synthesized via state-of-the-art mechanical mixing in the presence of few drops of water to form Ze/AC. The second composite (Ze/L/AC) was synthesized in a similar fashion, however this composite had the addition of disodium terephthalate as a linker. Both materials, Ze/AC and Ze/L/AC, were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Powdered X-ray diffraction (P-XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), Accelerated Surface Area and Porosimetry System (ASAP), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The SEM-EDS displayed the surface structure and composition of each material. The sodium, oxygen and carbon contents increased after linker connected Ze and AC. The P-XRD confirmed the crystallinity of each material as well as the composites, while FTIR indicated the function groups (C=C, O-H) in Ze/L/AC. The contaminant adsorption experiments investigated the effects of pH, temperature, and ionic strength on the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) and Co(II) for each material. In MB adsorption, the first-order reaction rate of Ze/L/AC (0.02 h^-1) was double that of Ze/AC (0.01 h^-1). The reaction rate of Ze/L/AC (4.8 h^-1) was also extraordinarily higher than that of Ze/AC (0.6 h^-1) in the adsorption of Co(II). Ze/L/AC composite achieved a maximum adsorption capacity of 44.8 mg/g for MB and 66.6 mg/g for Co(II) ions. The MB adsorption of Ze/AC and Ze/L/AC was best fit in Freundlich model with R² of 0.96 and 0.97, respectively, which indicated the multilayer adsorption. In the Co(II) adsorption, the data was highly fit in Langmuir model with R² of 0.94 and 0.92 which indicated the monolayer adsorption. These results indicated both materials exhibited chemisorption. The activation energy of Ze/L/AC in MB adsorption (34.9 kJ mol^-1) was higher than that of Ze/L/AC in Co (II) adsorption (26 kJ mol^-1).