| Summary: | Mesoporous silica NSG had been synthesized while employing gelatin as a natural template to
successfully increase the particle size and expand the pore diameter of NSG. All silica samples
exhibited a similar XRD pattern with a broad peak centred at 2θ = 22.9°, as the characteristic of
amorphous silica. FTIR results showed that the reduction of Si–O–Si symmetric stretching vibrations
at 1075 cm−
1 was due to the use of a high percentage of gelatin. Moreover, TEM analysis displayed
the mesoporous channels in the form of a honeycomb structure with a diameter of ± 6 nm. Gelatin
enhanced the surface area of silica from 467 to 510 m2/
g, the pore volume from 0.64 to 0.72 cc/g and
expanded the pore diameter from 3.5 nm to 6.0 nm. The expansion of the ordered mesopores with the
increase of P123: gelatin ratios was elucidated by the pore size distribution. The adsorption capacity
of methylene blue (MB) was improved on mesoporous silica with an expanded pore dimension to give
168 mg/g adsorption capacity within 70 min.
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