Removal of methylene blue dye from water using silver-exchanged Philippine natural zeolites

Authors

Luce Vida A. Sayson Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of the Philippines Diliman
Joybelle M. Lopez Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of the Philippines Diliman
Joven Paolo D. Angeles Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of the Philippines Diliman
Mae Agatha C. Tumanguil-Quitoras Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of the Philippines Diliman
Marienette M. Vega Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of the Philippines Diliman

Abstract

Silver-exchanged zeolites (AgZ) were synthesized via ion-exchange method and their removal of methylene blue (MB) from an aqueous solution were investigated. Natural zeolite powders were activated by heat treatment at 120°C and then immersed in silver nitrate (AgNO₃) solution for several hours. The structure and chemical composition of raw zeolites and AgZ were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, respectively. XRD showed significant peaks corresponding to both clinoptilolite and heulandite mineral phases. Another diffraction peak at 38.07° appeared for AgZ samples after silver addition. Hence, XRF data determined the Si/Al ratio (SAR) ranging from 2.86 to 3.75 implying the hydrophilic nature of the samples. Adsorption tests were carried out by UV-Vis-NIR spectrometer to determine the adsorption efficiency of zeolite samples for MB aqueous solution. The highest removal efficiency was exhibited by 8AgZ with 39.36% due to the photocatalytic degradation of silver ancillary to the adsorption capacity of zeolites. This study demonstrated that silver-exchanged zeolite could be utilized as an efficient adsorbent for dyes.

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Issue

2022: Proceedings of the 40th Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas Physics Conference

Article ID

SPP-2022-1E-03

Section

Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science

Published

2022-10-09

How to Cite

[1]

LVA Sayson, JM Lopez, JPD Angeles, MAC Tumanguil-Quitoras, and MM Vega, Removal of methylene blue dye from water using silver-exchanged Philippine natural zeolites, Proceedings of the Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas 40, SPP-2022-1E-03 (2022). URL: https://proceedings.spp-online.org/article/view/SPP-2022-1E-03.