Adsorption of methyl orange dye by SiO 2 mesoporous nanoparticles: adsorption kinetics and eco-toxicity assessment in Zea mays sprout and Artemia salina.

Herein, we prepared the silica nanoparticles (SiO 2 NPs) by a modified Stober's method for methyl orange (MO) removal. The SiO 2 NPs were found to be spherical with a zeta size of 152.5 d. nm, a PDI of 0.377, and a zeta potential of -5.59 mV. The effect of different parameters (initial dye concentration, reaction time, temperature, and pH) on the adsorption of MO by SiO 2 NPs was determined. The adsorption pattern of SiO 2 NPs was highly fitted with the Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peteroen, and Temkin isotherm models. The highest adsorption rate was recorded at 69.40 mg/g of SiO 2 NPs. Furthermore, the toxic effect of before and after removal of MO in aqueous solution was tested in terms of phytotoxicity and acute toxicity. The SiO 2 NPs treated MO dye solution were not exhibited significant toxicity to corn seeds and Artemia salina. These results indicated that SiO 2 NPs can be used for the adsorption of MO.