Development and characterization of a hybrid mesoporous material infused with metallic oxide nanoparticles for water treatment

In the current study, a hybrid mesoporous material infused with metallic oxide nanoparticles, MCM-48 with TiO2 nanoparticles, has been developed for potential application in water treatment. MCM-48 belongs to a family of mesoporous siliceous materials—M41S, in which MCM-48 has a unique three-dimensional cubic symmetry structure. Using this hybrid approach, it will allow the polluted water to pass through the strong yet high permeable structure of mesoporous material and to allow enough time for the pollutants to react with the metallic oxide nanoparticles infused on the porous structure so that the polluted water can be treated without introducing secondary pollutants. A modified hydrothermal method has been developed to synthesize three samples of this hybrid material with TiO2 nanoparticles of 15, 50, and 300 nm in diameter, respectively. The microstructures before and after the infusion of nanoparticles are characterized using scanning electron microscope and X-ray powder diffraction. Under the current...