Effects of Calcination Temperature on the Microstructure and Adsorption Properties of Attapulgite Microspheres

Abstract

The attapulgite microspheres were produced by spray drying method and calcination process subsequently. The effects of calcination temperature on the microstructure and adsorption properties of methylene blue(MB) were investigated systematically. Results show that the median diameter of the microspheres increases after calcination. The adsorption capacity and removal efficiency of MB reaches the maximum values(96.62mg/g and 96.6%) after calcined at 600°C and decreases with the temperature increasing. The adsorption process can be described better by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and fit the the Langmuir equation. The attapulgite microsphere shows good adsorption properties, which may be used as potential applications in various dyeing wastewater fields.