Facile Hydrothermal Procedure for the Synthesis of Sodium Aluminum Silicate Hydrate/Analcime and Analcime for Effective Removal of Manganese(II) Ions From Aqueous Solutions

In this research, sodium aluminum silicate hydrate/analcime composite (abbreviated as S/A) and analcime (abbreviated as A) products were fabricated utilizing the hydrothermal technique in the absence and presence of glutamine (concentration = 0.0435 g/mL) as phase-controlling template, respectively. Glutamine behaves as a crowning agent and avoids the accretion of particles. Hence, it controlled the morphology, aluminum silicate type, and crystallite size. The patterns of XRD elucidated that the S/A composite and A products exhibit a crystallite size equals 70.36 and 80.24 nm, respectively. Besides, the SEM elucidated that the S/A composite comprised of an irregular and sphere forms with a size of 2.64 mu m whereas the A product comprised of a droxtal forms with a size of 7.84 mu m. Furthermore, the fabricated products were exploited for removing Mn(II) ions from aqueous solutions. The uptake of Mn(II) ions was constrained by the pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir isotherm. Besides, the uptake of Mn(II) ions was exothermic since the estimations of increment H degrees on account of S/A composite and A product were - 52.059 and - 58.878 kJ/mol, respectively. Additionally, the maximum uptake capacity of S/A composite and A product was 75.188 and 60.241 mg/g, respectively. The higher uptake of the S/A composite can be explained by the fact that the S/A composite has a small crystallite size (70.36 nm) and a high surface area (20.26 m(2)/g) compared to the A product. Furthermore, the fabricated products are returnable, stable, effective, and can be reutilized more than once without the concession of their efficacy regarding Mn(II) ions.

Automated summary

In this study, sodium aluminum silicate hydrate/analcime composite (S/A) and analcime (A) products with different morphologies and crystallite sizes were successfully fabricated for removing Mn(II) ions from aqueous solutions. Glutamine as a template agent influenced the morphology and crystallite size of the products. The fabricated products exhibited high adsorption efficiency and reusability.