A novel organic/inorganic hybrid TVE-resin containing SiO2 structure for phenol removal is successfully prepared by dispersion polymerization, in which the inorganic phase is composed of nano-SiO2 modified by vinyltrimethoxy silane (VTMS) and the organic phase is constituted of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA). The chemical structure and physical properties of TVE-resin are characterized by FTIR, TGA, SEM and BET. The adsorption studies imply that the novel materials show optimum adsorption capacity at pH=6, dose 0.1 g, contact time 60 min, initial concentration 3000 mg/L and room temperature. The pseudo first-order model can be well fitted with the kinetic process. According to the adsorption isotherm analysis, the Freundlich model gives a better fit to the experimental data, indicating a multiple molecular adsorption for phenol removal. The calculated thermodynamic parameters indicate an exothermic and spontaneous process. A mixture desorption solvent containing methanol and deionized water (v:v, 1:1) can regenerate the TVE-resin completely and the resin displays good reusability after five regeneration recycles.

Keywords: adsorption; hybrid; phenol; kinetics; thermodynamics