Removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution using a thiol-functionalized ionic liquid-based periodic mesoporous organosilica: kinetic and thermodynamic studies

Integrated wastewater handling and organic dye management are important challenges that scientists are working to solve today. A thiol-functionalized ionic liquid-based periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO-IL-SH) has been prepared and characterized using diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and thermal gravimetric analysis and applied as a robust adsorbent for removal of methylene blue (MB) as an organic dye from an aqueous solution. The optimized conditions were achieved by using 0.04 g of PMO-IL-SH, 10 mg L-1 of MB at 35 min of contact time and pH 8. Fitting the equilibrium data shows the suitability of the Langmuir model with a second-order equation to control the kinetics of the adsorption process with the adsorption capacity of 384.61 mg g(-1). This study may provide insight for remarkable removal of organic dyes to refine water challenges.