An amorphous mesoporous silica with a high SBET of 751.5 m2
/g and
a DBJH of ~4.0 nm, has been synthesized via the successive treatments of
natural kaolin by calcination, alkali-treatment and acid-treatment.
The amorphous metakaolin (MK) firstly transformed into crystalline
aluminosilica zeolite (zeolite LTA/hydrosodalite) in the hydrothermal
alkali treatment. In the subsequent acid treatment, the zeolite was
decomposed into amorphous mesoporous silica. The process proves facile
and cost-effective because it is template-free and because of the use
of natural minerals.
The as-prepared mesoporous silica has a monolayer adsorption capacity
for methylene blue as high as 756.5 mg/g, indicating its promising
perspective as adsorbent in the future.
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at http