Preparation of porous silica materials using a eucalyptus template method and its efficient adsorption of methylene blue

Abstract Mesoporous silica has become one of the primary adsorbent materials for solving dye wastewater pollution due to its high specific surface area and good adsorption properties. However, the high cost of the traditional chemical synthesis method limits its wide application. In this thesis, low-cost and high-efficiency porous silica adsorbent materials (PSAM) were successfully prepared by dissolving quartz powder in NaOH solution and depositing and growing in the pores of eucalyptus wood under hydrothermal conditions using eucalyptus wood as a templating agent. The experimental results showed the prepared materials have a loose, porous slit pore structure and many active adsorption sites. The adsorption efficiency of methylene blue was high, reaching more than 85% within 10 min, and the maximum adsorption amount was 90.01 mg/g. The adsorption process was by the pseudo-first-order，pseudo-second-order, and Langmuir models. The analysis of thermodynamic data showed that the adsorption of methylene blue by PSAM was a heat-absorbing process and spontaneous. Therefore, PSAM can be effectively used for the application of methylene blue dye removal in water.