Al–Fe PILC preparation, characterization and its potential adsorption capacity for aflatoxin B1

Montmorillonite (Mt) was used as the precursor material for synthesis of aluminum–iron–pillared montmorillonite (AlFePMt) and the adsorption of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) by Mt and AlFePMt was investigated. Different forms of polycations were prepared and used to modify Mt, when the molar ratio of Al3 + to Fe3 + was 8.0, AlFePMt obtained the maximum adsorption capacity of AFB1 (660.0 μg/g) which was much higher than that of Mt (30.4 μg/g). The adsorbents were characterized by XRD, SEM and FTIR, and the effects of adsorbent amount, pH and interaction time on the adsorption of AFB1 onto Mt and AlFePMt were also studied. Adsorption isotherm parameters were obtained from Langmuir and Freundlich and the adsorption data fitted better to Langmuir. The obtained results show that the great difference of adsorption capacity between Mt and AlFePMt mainly lies in their microstructure and chemical composition, and it suggests that AlFePMt is suitable to be used as a potential adsorbent to remove AFB1 from the contaminated products.