Production of MCM-41 from rice husk

Rice husk ash was used as the silica source to synthesize MCM-41 with microwave heating. The effect of pH on the prepared MCM-41 was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis indicated that ordered structure MCM-41 can be synthesized in shorter time by microwave heating (1 h) compared with conventional oven heating (24 h). pH 9 was found to be the optimum condition to synthesize MCM-41 with microwave heating. The adsorption capacity of basic yellow 87 on MCM-41 prepared from rice husk was higher than that prepared by pure silicate source. The results indicated that the adsorption ability of MCM-41 prepared from rice husk could be significantly improved by controlling the preparation parameters. The low cost MCM-41 prepared from rich husk makes them potentially attractive adsorbents for the removal of dyes from aqueous solution.