Co₃O₄ doped over SBA 15: excellent adsorbent materials for the removal of methyleneblue dye Pollutant

Nanosized cobalt oxide particles are incorporated into SBA 15 mesoporous silica materials and are effectively used for the first time as adsorbent materials for aquatic dye pollutant removal. Cobalt is found to exist in its Co₃O₄ spinel structure as evident from FTIR and X-ray diffraction studies. The best weight ratio of metal loading to show excellent adsorption of methyleneblue is found to be 10 wt% Co over the support. There, Co₃O₄ spinel nanoparticles lie inside the pores of mesoporous silica. Further increase in the percentage of metal loading decreases the adsorption capacity which may be due to the agglomeration of nanoparticles over the silica support as evident from TEM photographs. Cobalt-doped systems of the present study, having good adsorption capacity of methyleneblue, are prepared via impregnation of cobalt nitrate over SBA 15 in aqueous medium. Here, we introduce a new SBA 15-based system for the fast removal of aquatic dye pollutants which is highly economical for industrial applications.