Functionalized nanoporous inorganic-organic sorbents for the removal of phenolic compounds from water

ENVR 41

Mojgan Zavareh, mzavareh@cau.edu, Conrad W. Ingram, cingram@cau.edu, and Fengling Ding, fding@cau.edu. Department of Chemistry, Clark Atlanta University, 223 James P. Brawley Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 30314
Mesoporous organosilicates, MCM-41 containing organic groups, such as phenylene- or ethylene-bridged, imidazole or amine, were synthesized by the hydrolysis and co-condensation of alkoxysilyl precursors, bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTSE) or bis(triethoxysilyl)benzene (BTSB) n-(3-triethoxysilylpropyl)-4,5-dihydroimidazole and bis[3-(trimethoxysilyl)-propyl]amine, under basic conditions. Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTABr) was used to increase the porosity and surface areas of these materials via the surfactant template approach. Further post-synthesis modification was used to functionalize the all-silica, MCM-41 using or n-(3-triethoxysilylpropyl)-4,5-dihydroimidazole and Bis[3-(trimethoxysilyl)-propyl]amine. The functionalized mesoporous silica was evaluated for the adsorption of phenolic organikc compounds from water. Materials containing an imidazole group exhibited greater affinity for 2,4-dinitrophenol adsorption.