Synthesis of Mesoporous Silica from Sugarcane Bagasse Ash Using Pluronic 123 as a Colorant Adsorbent for Brilliant Green

Mesoporous silica exhibits excellent adsorption capabilities, making it suitable for the treatment of colorant dye waste. However, the commonly used silica precursors, such as tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and tetramethyl orthosilicate (TMOS) are relatively expensive. Therefore, it prompts the exploration of biomass as an alternative precursor for mesoporous silica due to its affordability and widespread availability. Previous research has demonstrated the potential of rice husk and corn cob biomass can serve as alternative raw materials for mesoporous silica due to their high silica content. In this study, mesoporous silica was synthesized using sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) as the precursor, as it contains silica content ranging from 50-70% following combustion. The synthesis was performed using the Pluronic 123 surfactant template through the sol-gel method. The cationic dye brilliant green was used as the adsorbate in this research. Characterization techniques employed included Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron spectroscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), and UV-Visible analysis. The resulting mesoporous silica exhibited surface area, pore radius, and pore volume of 363.4 m²/g, 1.5434 nm, and 0.716 cc/g, respectively, as well as 55.1% of cationic dye adsorption capacity. The present study demonstrated that the fabrication of mesoporous silica using sugarcane bagasse ash as the silica precursor has potential as an effective and economical adsorbent for industrial applications.