Adsorption and desorption characteristics of imidazole-modified silica for chromium(VI)

Imidazole-modified silica adsorbent with chloride as counter ion (SilprIm-Cl) was synthesized and characterized by scanning electron microscope, infrared spectra, thermogravimetric analysis, elemental analysis and BET analysis. The adsorption of chromium(VI) from aqueous solutions onto the SilprIm-Cl was investigated at varying pH, contact time, initial Cr(VI) concentration, adsorbent amount and temperature. The experimental results showed that the modification of silica with imidazole enhanced significantly the adsorption capacity for Cr(VI). The SilprIm-Cl was of primary anion-exchange adsorption nature, pH and excess Cl− ions in solutions affected significantly the adsorption of chromium(VI). The adsorption isotherms would be well defined with Langmuir model instead of Freundlich model. The adsorption process follows the pseudo-second-order kinetics. The maximum adsorption capacity of Cr(VI) of 47.79 mg g−1 with an initial Cr(VI) concentration of 150 mg L−1 was achieved at pH of 2.0. The adsorption–desorption experiments of the SilprIm-Cl exhibited that the adsorbent could be regenerated and reused eight times at least by simple washings with NaCl and water in turn.