Facile synthesis and characterization of folic acid-modified silica nanoparticles and its exploration for adsorptive removal of aluminum (III) from aqueous media

摘要: In the current study, folic acid-modified silica nanoparticles (FA-SNPs) were fabricated and used for the removal of Al(III) from aqueous media via solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure before its spectrometric determination using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The prepared adsorbent was characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area measurement, and pH at a point of zero charge (pHpzc). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to prove the thermal stability of the prepared adsorbent. The influence of several parameters including initial pH, amount of adsorbent, time of contact, initial adsorbate concentration, and the effect of foreign ions was studied. The outcomes presented that optimum adsorption of Al(III) was …