Silica Particles Derived from Natural Kaolinite for the Removal of Rhodamine B from Polluted Water

This manuscript deals with the thermal and chemical modification of a natural kaolinite that shows excellent performance in the capture of a cationic organic pollutant from the aqueous phase. Kaolinite was calcined at 700 °C and treated with HCl to remove aluminium and to obtain a siliceous material. The structural changes and the physico-chemical properties of the materials at different stages of thermal and chemical modification were investigated with several techniques, including XRPD, MAS-NMR, SEM-EDX, FT-IR, and N2 physisorption at 77 K. The ability of the parent kaolinite and siliceous material to capture the organic dye, Rhodamine B, from the aqueous phase was investigated by means of UV-Vis spectroscopy. The siliceous material exhibited better adsorption capacity with respect to the parent kaolinite. Finally, the functional stability of the siliceous material was tested over three cycles of regeneration and adsorption.