Removal of phenol from aqueous solution by adsorption onto OTMAC-modified attapulgite

The potential of octodecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (OTMAC)-modified attapulgite (AT) for phenol adsorption from aqueous solutions was studied. The comparison of natural AT and modified AT showed that it is possible to utilize the sonication-modified OTMAC-AT in the treatment of phenol-contaminated wastewaters. Batch sorption studies were carried out to evaluate the effect of contact time, shaking frequency, temperature and the amount of AT. The results showed that in a lab-scale reactor, at room temperature, with an amount of the modified AT added (2.5 g), and a shaking frequency of 140 rev/min, the adsorption rate of phenol could be 60.4% for a duration of 60 min. The sorption kinetics were described by a pseudo-second-order model, and the values of k and q(e) were 1.367 mg/ig min and 0.7901 ig/mg, respectively. The analysis of equilibrium data showed that the Freundlich isotherms were found to be applicable for the adsorption equilibrium data. K and 1/n were estimated to be 14.53 and 0.8438, respectively.