Abstract
Chitosan was deposited on fumed silica without the addition of cross-linkers or activating agents. The chitosan surface layer has a high affinity toward organic molecules, e.g., Acid Orange 8 (AO8) dye, robust to a broad range of simulated conditions (variance with respect to temperature, time, and concentration of solute). Experimental equilibrium data were analyzed by the generalized Langmuir equation taking into consideration the energetic heterogeneity of the adsorption system. The effect of temperature on dye uptake and adsorption rate was studied. According to the calculated thermodynamic functions ΔG°, ΔH°, and ΔS° from the equilibrium data at different temperatures, the adsorption of AO8 onto chitosan-fumed silica composite is exothermic and spontaneous. The studies of temperature effect on adsorption equilibrium show that the maximum adsorption capacity (determined from the Langmuir-Freundlich equation) of synthesized composite toward AO8 is about one-third higher in the case of an isotherm measured at 5 °C than this value obtained for the isotherm measured at 45 °C. The quantitative binding of dye molecules to chitosan coating on the surface of silica was proved by 1H MAS NMR. The deep kinetics study through the application of various theoretical models-the first-order equation, pseudo-first-order equation, second-order equation, pseudo-second-order equation, mixed first, second-order equation, and multiexponential equation-was applied for getting inside the mechanism of AO8 binding to the chitosan coating. Structural characteristics of chitosan-coated silica were obtained from the low-temperature adsorption/desorption isotherms of nitrogen and imaging by scanning electron microscopy. The effects of a synthetic route for polymer coating on thermal stability and the ability to degrade were studied by differential scanning calorimetry.