Highly effective removal of Methylene Blue using functionalized attapulgite via hydrothermal process

Attapulgite (APT) has been frequently used for the adsorptive removal of dyes from aqueous solution owing to its unique one-dimensional nanoscale structure and low-cost, abundant, eco-friendly advantages. In this work, APT was functionalized under mild hydrothermal condition using chloroacetic acid (CA) with COOH functional groups to improve its adsorption properties. The effect of hydrothermal modification on the microstructure and physicochemical features of APT was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Field-emission scanning electron microscopy analyses. The effects of hydrothermal reaction parameters on the adsorption properties of modified APT were intensively investigated. It was revealed that the rearrangement of crystal structure and the surface functionalization of APT with COOH groups cause the surprising increase of adsorption capability for Methylene Blue (MB). The removal ratio of raw APT for MB is only 59.52%, while modified APT could almost completely remove MB in the 200 mg/L of MB solution with a removal ratio of 99.8%. The adsorption kinetics fitted pseudo second-order kinetic model, and the adsorption isotherm could be described with Langmuir isotherm model very well. The hydrogen-bonding interaction, electrostatic attraction and chemical association are the main driving force for the adsorption process.