High Surface Area Silica Particles Using Anionic Surfactant Template Prepared by One-step Spray Drying System for Dye Removal Application

Abstract

This study reported the effect of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) as a template on silica morphology and its properties. The precursor was prepared by producing silica nanofluid by the sol-gel method and mixed with various SLS concentrations. After that, the precursor was spray-dried to generate silica powder. An increase in SLS concentration up to 2 critical micelle concentration (CMC) indicates an increase in the silica particle size from 2.12 μm in untemplated silica particles to 2.58 μm. On the other hand, when the SLS concentration increases to 3 CMC, the particle size decreases to 2.19 μm. A significant increase in total pore volume and surface area is obtained for silica particles synthesized at least at the SLS concentration of 2 CMC, around eight higher volumes than without SLS addition. In addition, they have a macropore compared to silica particles synthesized without SLS addition that only exhibits mesopore. The surface area was 1,011 m²/g for the SLS concentration at 3 CMC, whereas the silica without SLS has only a surface area of 131 m²/g. The SLS concentration at 2 CMC or higher leads to a significant increase in its physical properties because the micelle formation is enough for sacrificed template formation. Methylene blue solution was used as an adsorbate for evaluating the dye adsorption capacity that followed the Langmuir isothermal adsorption model. The highest theoretical maximum monolayer adsorption capacity was 142.9 mg/g, obtained by silica adsorbent with the SLS concentration at 3 CMC.