Design and preparation of a novel Mg–Al LDH@EDTA-Melamine nanocomposite for effective adsorptive removal of methylene blue and rhodamine B dyes from water

This paper deals with the preparation of a novel nanocomposite consisted of magnesium-aluminum layered double hydroxide (Mg–Al LDH) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as well as melamine (MA) as an adsorbent. This nanocomposite was utilized to adsorb different dyes such as rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB) from water. The prepared adsorbent was characterized using FT-IR, EDS, XRD, TGA, and FE-SEM analyses. The effects of various parameters such as concentration, time, adsorbent dosage, temperature, and pH were tested to investigate their influence on adsorption conditions. Both methylene blue and rhodamine B dyes showed pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetics, and their adsorption followed the Langmuir isotherm. Moreover, the maximum adsorption capacities for methylene blue and rhodamine B were found to be 1111.103 mg/g at 45 °C and 232.558 mg/g at 60 °C, respectively. Additionally, the adsorption processes were found to be spontaneous (ΔG°< 0, for both dyes) and exothermic (ΔH° = −12.42 kJ/mol for methylene blue and ΔH° = −25.84 kJ/mol for rhodamine B) for both dyes. Hydrogen bonding and electrostatic forces are responsible for the interactions occur between the nanocomposite and the functional groups in the dyes. The experimental findings demonstrated a greater adsorption rate of MB than RhB, suggesting the adsorbent's stronger affinity for MB. This preference is likely due to MB's size, specific functional groups, and smaller molecule size, enabling stronger interactions and more efficient access to adsorption sites compared to RhB. Even after recycling 4 times, the dye adsorption percentages of the adsorbent for MB and RhB dyes were 90 % and 87 %, but the desorption percentages of the adsorbate dyes were 85 % and 80 %, respectively. The prepared adsorbent boasts several unique properties, such as the swift and effortless adsorption of MB and RhB dyes, straightforward synthesis, mild adsorption conditions, remarkable efficiency, and the ability to be recycled up to 4 times without a significant decrease in activity.