Functionalized SBA-15 organosilicas as sorbents of mercury(II), cadmium(II) and copper(II)

Amino- and thiol-functionalized SBA-15 organosilicas have been synthesized by co-condensation of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) with appropriate trifunctional silanes i. e. aminopropyltriethoxysilane (ATES) and mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane (MTES). The materials were characterized by nitrogen sorption measurements, XRD diffractometry, FTIR/PAS spectroscopy and SEM, TEM and AFM microscopy. The obtained materials exhibit high porosity, good ordering, and high content of functional groups (0.5–1.5 mmol/g). These materials have been tested as sorbents for three bivalent metal ions: Hg(II), Cd(II) and Cu(II) testifying to their usefulness in such sorption applications. The adsorption kinetics was were favour-able-all the metal ions were adsorbed just after several minute and the amounts of adsorbed metals were high and depended on the type and content of surface functionalities.