Chitosan/MCM-48 nanocomposite as a potential adsorbent for removing phenol from aqueous solution

A new hybrid mesoporous nanocomposite (CMCM-48) based on chitosan and silica MCM-48 was considered as a potential adsorbent for removing phenol from aqueous solutions (toxic liquid waste) in a batch process. The new composite adsorbent was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms. The adsorption isotherm studies were analyzed using linear and nonlinear Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich models for the optimum conditions when the initial phenol concentration, pH, adsorption temperature and time were 10–500 mg L(−1), 3–10, 25.5 °C and 300 min, respectively. It was revealed that the experimental results agree well with the Dubinin–Radushkevich model, i.e. the correlation coefficient R(2) was 0.983085. The adsorption kinetics was modeled with linear and nonlinear pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intra particle diffusion kinetic models. The pseudo-second-order model was the best for describing the adsorption process with a correlation coefficient R(2) = 0.99925. The stability of the equilibrium data was studied for a phenol sorbent with a maximum adsorption capacity of 149.25 mg g(−1). The results verified that the synthesized CMCM-48 was an efficient adsorbent for removing phenol from aqueous solutions.