Adsorption of aqueous Hg (II) by a novel poly(aniline‐co‐o‐aminophenol)/mesoporous silica SBA‐15 composite

A novel poly(aniline‐co‐o‐aminophenol) (PAOA)/mesoporous silica SBA‐15 nanocomposite was synthesized and investigated for adsorption of Hg (II) from aqueous solutions of wide pH range. A chemical oxidation method was employed for polymerization of aniline and o‐aminophenol on an ordered SBA‐15 template to obtain a significantly enlarged BET surface area of the adsorbent. Efficiency study revealed that the PAOA/SBA‐15 could reach a maximum Hg (II) adsorption capacity of over 400 mg/g. Kinetic study showed that the Hg (II) adsorption by the PAOA/SBA‐15 fitted a pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model, indicating that the mercury adsorption process was predominantly controlled by chemical process. The results of this study also proved that the adsorbed Hg (II) could be effectively desorbed from the PAOA/SBA‐15 in 0.1M HCl and 5% sulfocarbonide solutions. Associated adsorption mechanism was also investigated by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.