Title
Mono-starch phosphate/montmorillonite nanocomposites prepared by vibration milling: structure and adsorption capacity towards methylene blue dye
Authors
NATALIYA E. KOCHKINA and NIKOLAY D. LUKIN

Received June 27, 2018
Published Volume 53 Issue 1-2 January-February
Keywords mono-starch phosphate, montmorillonite, vibration mill, adsorption

Abstract
In the present work, for the first time, low-cost nanocomposites based on mono-starch phosphate (StPh) and montmorillonite (MMT) (1-5 wt% based on dry StPh) were prepared by a simple mechanical preparation method using a vibration mill. The structure and textural properties, as well as ζ-potential of the StPh/MMT nanocomposites, were characterized by X-ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy, low-temperature nitrogen adsorption/desorption and electrophoretic light scattering. The adsorption ability of the nanocomposites towards methylene blue dye was also evaluated. The obtained results demonstrated that the adsorption capacity of the StPh/MMT nanocomposites increased with increasing MMT concentration. For all the nanocomposite samples, the adsorption kinetics and equilibrium adsorption isotherm were adequately described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Sips isotherm model, respectively. It was shown that the pH value for the nanocomposite containing 5 wt% MMT had a minimal effect on the adsorption process efficiency. The recycling experiments demonstrated that the StPh/MMT nanocomposite could be successfully used for MB removal after three adsorption cycles.