Removal of Aniline and Nitro-Substituted Aniline from Wastewater by Particulate Nanoporous MCM-48

The particulate nanoporous material MCM-48 (Mobil Crystalline Material No. 48) was synthesized and characterized in order to use it as an adsorbent for the removal of adsorbate, such as aniline and nitro-substituted anilines, including 2-nitroaniline, 3-nitroaniline, and 4-nitroaniline from wastewater. The characterizations of MCM-48 were investigated by applying XRD, SEM, EDAX, BET surface area, and FTIR. The adsorption kinetics was investigated too. The batch adsorption studies demonstrated that the MCM-48 had a significant ability to the adsorption of aniline and nitro-substituted aniline from wastewater. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms were used to model the adsorption equilibrium data. The four molecules adsorbed according to type I Langmuir adsorption with a maximum uptake were calculated to be approximately 94mgg(-1). The findings showed that the kinetics of the reaction is very rapid and followed a pseudo-second-order model. It is clearly indicated that the Langmuir model is more suitable for chemical organic compounds adsorption on mesoporous material than the Freundlich model.