Selective adsorption of cationic dyes from aqueous solution by polyoxometalate based metal– mineral framework composite

The pigment obtained is suitable for the textile industry and the dyeing process of fibers, yarns and fabrics, and is in line with environmental and anti-allergenicity.A novel environmental friendly adsorbent H6P2W18O62/MOF-5 was synthesized by a simple one-step reaction under solvothermal conditions and characterized by XRD, FTIR, thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms. The removal rate of H6P2W18O62/MOF-5 was quite greater (85%) than that of MOF-5 (almost zero), showing that the adsorption performance of porous MOF-5 can be improved through the modification of H6P2W18O62. Further study revealed that H6P2W18O62/MOF-5 exhibited a fast adsorption rate and selective adsorption ability towards the cationic dyes in aqueous solution. The removal rate was up to 97% for cationic dyes methylene blue (MB) and 68% for rhodamine B(Rhb) within 10 min. However, anionicdye methyl orange(MO) can only reach to 10%. The influences including initial concentration, contacttime, initial solution pH and temperature of MB adsorption onto H6P2W18O62/MOF-5 were investigated in detail. The kinetic study indicated that the adsorption of MB onto H6P2W18O62/MOF-5 followed the pseudo second-order model well. The isotherm obtained from experimental data fitted the Langmuir model, yielding maximum adsorption capacity of 51.81 mg/g. The thermodynamic parameters analysis illustrated that the MB adsorption onto H6P2W18O62 immobilized MOF-5 was spontaneous and endothermic process. Besides, these results implied that designing a novel material polyoxometalate-based metal–organic frameworks is great potential for removing cationic organic pollutants and even extended to improve other specific application.