Synthesis, Characterization and Application of Silica Aerogel-Eggshell Nanocomposite for the Dye Removal from Colored Wastewater

In the current study, silica aerogel-eggshell was synthesized andcharacterized as nano-adsorbent for dye removal from colored wastewater.the nanocomposite structure was characterized by fourier transforminfrared spectra and scanning electron microscope. the ability of adsorption silicaaerogels-egg shell nanocomposite for removal of basic violet 16 dye from aqueoussolutions was studied using batch adsorption system and compared with two otheradsorbents such as egg shell and silica aerogels. the results showed thatadsorption power of basic violet 16 dye increased by silica aerogels-egg shellnanocomposite. the adsorbents were evaluated for removal of dye under differentph values, temperatures, adsorbent dosages and contact times. the optimum phfor dye removal by nanocomposite was 8, while the optimum ph for the two otheradsorbents of basic violet 16 was about 12. the optimum temperature andadsorbent dosage for dye removal was 35°c and 5g/l, respectively. eventually, theequilibrium was achieved for the dye removal after 90 min of contact time. inorder to better understand the adsorption process, the experimental data wereanalyzed with langmuir and freundlich isotherm models and it was discerned thatsynthesized adsorbents were well fitted by freundlich equation.