Preparation of KHA/SA/MMT composites and their adsorption properties for Rhodamine B.

Two natural adsorbent materials, potassium humate (KHA) and montmorillonite (MMT), were successfully prepared by embedding them in sodium alginate (SA) gel spheres through physical cross-linking with CaCl. And CaCO was used as a porogenic agent to prepare the porous composites, KHA/SA/MMT. The materials were characterized by using XRD, TGA, SEM, and N adsorption/desorption equipment. The results showed that MMT and KHA were successfully embedded in the SA gel; the introduction of MMT increased the thermal stability of the composites and the embedding of MMT, and the porogenic effect of CaCO increased the specific surface area of the composites substantially, which provided favorable conditions for adsorption and treatment of pollutants. In addition, a one-way exploratory experiment yielded a higher removal rate of Rhodamine B (RhB) at D = 0.6 g/L, pH = 5, C = 100 mg/L, and t = 360 min. The adsorption kinetics and adsorption isotherm conformed to the secondary kinetic model and Langmuir model, respectively, and the maximum adsorption of RhB by KHA/SA/MMT could reach up to 884.96 mg/g at 303 K. The adsorption mechanism for RhB was shown by FT-IR and XPS analyses to be possibly bound by non-covalent bonding forces. After seven consecutive adsorption-desorption cycles, the adsorption of RhB by KHA/SA/MMT still reached 80.75%. Therefore, the prepared gel spheres have the advantages of easy regeneration and efficient reuse and great potential for application in purifying RhB from wastewater.