Multicarboxylic hyperbranched polyglycerol modified SBA-15 for the adsorption of cationic dyes and copper ions from aqueous media

The aim of the present work was to investigate the potential of multicarboxylic hyperbranched polyglycerol (HPG) modified mesoporous SBA-15 (SBA/HPG-COOH) as adsorbent for the removal of cationic dyes or/and heavy metal ions from aqueous media. The SBA/HPG-COOH adsorbents can be facilely synthesized through two steps: in situ anionic ring-opening polymerization of glycidol and further modification of hydroxyl groups by succinic anhydride. The resulting SBA/HPG-COOH was characterized by means of FTIR, TGA, XRD, SEM and nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms. The results demonstrate that the SBA/HPG-COOH was successfully synthesized and the density of carboxylic groups on the SBA/HPG-COOH is calculated to be as high as 1.5 mmol/g, posing a powerful base for adsorbing cationic adsorbates. Four kinds of dyes and copper ions were chosen as representatives to investigate the adsorption ability of SBA/HPG-COOH. The SBA/HPG-COOH adsorbent showed quick adsorption rate, high adsorption capacity (e.g., its saturated adsorption capacity for methylene blue (MB) can reach 0.50 mmol/g, while for unmodified SBA-15 is lower than 0.05 mmol/g), and high selectivity for cationic adsorbates. The fitness of Langmuir adsorption model and pseudo second-order kinetics on describing the adsorption isotherm and kinetics of SBA/HPG-COOH for MB dye was examined, respectively. It is believed that this robust SBA/HPG-COOH adsorbent will find important application in removal of cationic adsorbates from aqueous solution.