Adsorption of methyl orange using self-assembled porous microspheres of poly(o-chloroaniline)

Self-assembled hollow microspheres poly( o -chloroaniline) (POC) have been synthesized by simple oxidative polymerization of o -chloroaniline using camphor-sulfonic acid (CSA) as dopant acid and ammonium persulfate (APS) as oxidant. The POC microspheres were characterized by means of FTIR, XRD and SEM analysis. Adsorption characteristics of POC spheres were studied by using methyl orange (MO) as adsorbate. It was found that adsorption of MO by POC was better described by pseudo-second-order kinetics than any other kinetic model, such as the pseudo-first-order and intra-particle diffusion models. Langmuir adsorption isotherm model was the best to fit experimental data. The results showed that hollow microspheres of POC can be used as novel and low-cost adsorbent for removal of organic dye from waste water.