Adsorption of Organic Phenols onto Hexadecyltrimethylammonium-Treated Montmorillonite

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Abstract
Montmorillonite used as an adsorbent was organically modified by using a cationic surfactant, hexadecyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA), to enhance the removal capacity of organic phenol contaminants dissolved in an aqueous solution. This modification produces a change of the surface property of montmorillonite from hydrophilic to organophilic. The single-and multicomponent competitive adsorptions were performed in a batch reactor to investigate the removal of three toxic organic phenols, 2-chlorophenol, 3-cyanophenol, and 4-nitrophenol, on the modified HDTMA-montmorillonite. It was observed from the experimental results that the adsorption affinity for HDTMA-montmorillonite was 2-chlorophenol, 4-nitrophenol, 3-cyanophenol in decreasing order. Langmuir and the Redlich-Peterson models were used to analyze the single-component adsorption results, while the IAST and the LCM models predicted the multicomponent adsorption equilibria. These models yielded favorable representations of both individual and competitive adsorption behaviors.

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