Exploration of PVC@SiO2 nanostructure for adsorption of methylene blue via using quartz crystal microbalance technology

Safaa S Ali; Gamal K Hassan; Sameh H Ismail; A A Ebnalwaled; Gehad G Mohamed; M Hafez

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-46807-4

Exploration of PVC@SiO₂ nanostructure for adsorption of methylene blue via using quartz crystal microbalance technology

Sci Rep. 2023 Nov 10;13(1):19621. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-46807-4.

Authors

Safaa S Ali^{1

2}, Gamal K Hassan³, Sameh H Ismail⁴, A A Ebnalwaled⁵, Gehad G Mohamed^{6

7}, M Hafez¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, 12613, Egypt.
² Department of Basic Sciences, Pyramids Higher Institute for Engineering and Technology, Giza, 12613, Egypt.
³ Water Pollution Research Department, National Research Centre, 33El-Bohouth St. (Former El-Tahrir St.), Dokki, P.O. 12622, Giza, Egypt.
⁴ Faculty of Nanotechnology for Postgraduate Studies, Cairo University, Sheikh Zayed Campus, 6th October City, Giza, 12588, Egypt.
⁵ Electronics & Nano Devices (END) Lab, Physics Department, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena, 83523, Egypt.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, 12613, Egypt. ggenidymohamed@sci.cu.edu.eg.
⁷ Nanoscience Department, Basic and Applied Sciences Institute, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, New Borg El Arab, Alexandria, 21934, Egypt. ggenidymohamed@sci.cu.edu.eg.

Abstract

Methylene blue (MB) dye is considered a well-known dye in many industries and the low concentration of MB is considered very polluted for all environment if it discharged without any treatment. For that reason, many researchers used advanced technologies for removing MB such as the electrochemical methods that considered very simple and give rapid response. Considering these aspects, a novel quartz crystal microbalance nanosensors based on different concentrations of PVC@SiO₂ were designed for real-time adsorption of MB dye in the aqueous streams at different pHs and different temperatures. The characterization results of PVC@SiO₂ showed that the PVC@SiO₂ have synthesized in spherical shape. The performance of the designed QCM-Based PVC@SiO₂ nanosensors were examined by the QCM technique. The sensitivity of designed nanosensors was evaluated at constant concentration of MB (10 mg/L) at different pHs (2, 7 and 11) and temperatures (20 °C, 25 °C, and 30 °C). From the experimental, the best concentration of PVC@SiO₂ was 3% for adsorbed 9.99 mg of cationic methylene blue at pH 11 and temperature 20 °C in only 5.6 min.