Synthesis of mesoporous magnesium silicate particles and their adsorption property

In this work, the authors have successfully synthesised amorphous mesoporous magnesium silicate particles by the sol-gel technique combining with block copolymer P123 (EO₂₀PO₇₀EO₂₀) as a template. Mesoporous magnesium silicate particles were characterised by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, N₂ adsorption-desorption technique, element mapping and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis. The results indicated that homogeneous amorphous mesoporous magnesium silicate particles have 298.4-m²/g of specific surface area and 5.5 nm of mesoporous channels. Using rhodamine B (RhoB) as a model dye, the adsorption capacity on mesoporous magnesium silicate particles can be estimated to 190 mg/g, and the regenerated particles also exhibited good adsorption performance. Therefore these mesoporous magnesium silicate particles have potential as adsorbents for the removal of dyes from water.