Removal of Phenol using modified Aleppo bentonite with (HDTMA-Br)

Abstract

Phenol is one of the most important pollutants present in produced water. Many researches have been interested in finding different ways to reduce its concentration in water, so some researches has directed to use chemical methods, and others have relied on the principles of green chemistry using natural and widely available materials with minimum modifications at least amount of chemicals in these modifications. This research concerned with studying the possibility of removing phenol from aqueous solutions using the modified Syrian Bentonite using hexadecyltrimethylammonium-bromide (HDTMA-Br), so the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the crude Syrian Bentonite and the amount of (HDTMA-Br) needed to modify the surface of (1 g) Syrian Bentonite were determined. The Syrian Bentonite cationic exchange capacity (CEC) was (0.6 mmol_c.g^-1 ). Spectrum (IR) before and after the modification were compared. This research studied the effects of contact time      (180 min), particle size (100 µm-300 µm), (pH) solution (4-6), Syrian modified Bentonite mass (1g / 25 ml), initial concentration of phenol. Depending on this study, the suitable adsorption model was determined by Freundlich model and the constants of this model were calculated.