Preparation of new nanocomposite poly(GDMA)/mesoporous silica and its adsorption behavior towards cationic dye

In this work, a new nanocomposite based on crosslinked Glycerol Dimethacrylate (GDMA) and the mesoporous silica MCM-41 was prepared. The GDMA is first synthesized by the ring opening of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) using methacrylic anhydride (MA) and promoted by a new solvent-free green catalysis process at room temperature. The nanocomposites are further obtained by in-situ polymerization of the GDMA in the channels of the mesoporous silica and then tested for the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye. Effect of polymer content, adsorbent mass, contact time and initial dye concentration were studied and discussed in terms of affinity and adsorption efficiency. The results showed that the poly(GDMA) was well immobilized in the internal and external surface of the mesoporous silica MCM-41. The adsorption efficiency of MB dye increased with increasing poly(GDMA) content in which the nanocomposite (NC-3) exhibited the best adsorption capacity of MB dye. The adsorption of MB dye by nanocomposite NC-3 followed Langmuir adsorption isotherm models and pseudo-second-order kinetics. The maximum adsorbed amount of MB dye on nanocomposite NC-3 is 111.11 mg/g.