Determination of Optimum Conditions for Nitrate Anion (NO₃ ⁻) Desorption on Mesoporous Silica Modified with Dimethylamine (DMA)

Abstract

Mesoporous silica is an inorganic material that has high potential to be applied in various industrial fields, one of its applications is the adsorption method. To maximize the adsorption of mesoporous silica, modification of the silica surface was carried out by adding amine compounds. The amine compound used as a modifier is dimethylamine (DMA), using glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) as a linking compound. The column method uses mesoporous silica, modified with dimethylamine, in the nitrate anions adsorption process. The adsorption capacity of the nitrate anion is 0.0917 mg/g. After adsorbed, the desorption process was carried out to release the adsorbed nitrate anions. The desorption process found that HCl was the best desorption agent used on nitrate anions. The optimum concentration of HCl was 0.15 M, with the number of nitrate anions desorbed as much as 0.0459 mg with a 100% desorption percentage.