Removal of Malachite Green Dye using Keggin Polyoxometalate Intercalated ZnAl Layered Double Hydroxide

The ZnAl Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have been successfully synthesized by the coprecipitation method, followed by intercalation using Keggin ion of α-dodecatungstosilicic acid [α-SiW12O40]4- to form ZnAl-[α-SiW12O40] LDHs. The prepared ZnAl-[SiW12O40] LDHs were characterized by using X-Ray, FTIR, and BET surface area analyses, which were, then, used as adsorbents of malachite green dye from aqueous solution. The synthesized ZnAl LDH showed a typical diffraction peak of the layered compound at 11o (003) with an interlayer space of 8.59 Å. After intercalation, it was recorded that the interlayer space of ZnAl-[SiW12O40] LDH increased to 10.65 Å. Moreover, the specific surface area of the intercalated LDH increased from 1.9685 to 14.0422 Å. The adsorption study revealed that the adsorption capacity of ZnAl-[SiW12O40] LDH toward malachite green dye was higher (37.514 mg.g-1) than the pristine ZnAl LDH (32.845 mg.g-1). The adsorption kinetics study showed that malachite green adsorption onto both pristine and intercalate LDH followed the pseudo-2nd-order model. The adsorption thermodynamic investigation indicated that adsorption of malachite green onto ZnAl-[SiW12O40] LDH was a spontaneous process and was classified as physical adsorption with activation energy ranging from 10.074 to 15.476 kJ.mol-1. HIGHLIGHTS ZnAl LDH intercalated by Keggin ion has been successfully synthesized by facile coprecipitation followed by ion exchange method The basal spacing of the intercalated ZnAl LDH increased up to 10.65 A The intercalated ZnAl LDH exhibited higher adsorption capacity for malachite green dye removal compared with the original ZnAl LDH