Ordered Mesoporous Silicas with 2,5-Dimercapto-1,3,4-Thiadiazole Ligand: High Capacity Adsorbents for Mercury Ions

This work reports two-step synthesis of novel ordered mesoporous silicas (OMS), which contain mercury-specific multifunctional ligand and have high surface area and well-developed porosity. One pot co-condensation synthesis was employed to introduce chloropropyl functionality on the mesopore walls of hexagonally ordered silica. In the next step, 2,5-dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole was reacted with chloropropyl groups during template-displacement process, which resulted in high affinity adsorbent towards mercury ions. The maximum adsorption capacity of this adsorbent for mercury ions from aqueous solutions was as high as 1.7 g/g, which is about three times higher than the concentration of surface ligand. This study shows that the surface properties of OMS can be tailored by proper choice of chemical modification method, which affects the ligand bonding density and determines the adsorbent capacity and affinity towards heavy metal ions. Three methods, one-pot synthesis, template-displacement and post-synthesis modification, were used for the introduction of surface ligands into MCM41 and SBA15 mesostructures to prepare mercury-specific adsorbents. In addition, adsorption properties of these adsorbents as well as their effectiveness for mercury removal from aqueous solutions were comparatively studied.