Removal of methyl orange from aqueous solutions through adsorption by calcium aluminate hydrates.

Methyl orange (MO) is a kind of anionic dye and widely used in industry. In this study, tricalcium aluminate hydrates (Ca-Al-LDHs) are used as an adsorbent to remove methyl orange (MO) from aqueous solutions. The resulting products were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (MIR), thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The XRD results indicated that the MO molecules were successfully intercalated into the tricalcium aluminate hydrates, with the basal spacing of Ca-Al-LDH expanding to 2.48 nm. The MIR spectrum for CaAl-MO-LDH shows obvious bands assigned to the N=N, N=H stretching vibrations and S=O, SO3(-) group respectively, which are considered as marks to assess MO(-) ion intercalation into the interlayers of LDH. The overall morphology of CaAl-MO-LDH displayed a "honey-comb" like structure, with the adjacent layers expanded.