Synthesis of mussel-inspired silica nanocomposites for efficient removal of methyl orange

Herein, novel SiO2 nanocomposites have been successfully synthesized using inexpensive catechol (CCh) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) functional modification KH550-SiO2 ([email protected]2-NH2) via mussel-inspired co-deposition. The FTIR, XRD, BET, TEM, and EDS were used to characterize the [email protected]2-NH2. The application in Methyl Orange (MO) removal was discussed in detail. The results show that the theoretical maximum adsorption capacity of [email protected]2-NH2 was 221.73 mg g−1. The adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm model, respectively. Moreover, the [email protected]2-NH2 exhibited excellent regeneration properties. It shows that the [email protected]2-NH2 has potential applications for MO removal.