Uğur Salgın

Adsorption of o-, m- and p-nitrophenols onto organically modified bentonites

Experiments were conducted on the adsorption characteristics of o-, m- and p-nitrophenols by organically modified bentonites at different temperatures. Two organobentonites (HDTMA-B and PEG-B) were synthesized using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMABr) and poly(ethylene glycol) butyl ether (PEG). Synthesized HDTMA-B and PEG-B were characterized by XRD, FTIR and DTA-TG analyses and their specific surface area, particle size and pore size distributions were determined. BET surface areas and basal spacings (d(001)) of the HDTMA-B and PEG-B were found to be 38.71 m(2)g(-1), 69.04 m(2)g(-1) and 21.96 Å, 15.17 Å, respectively. Increased adsorption with temperature indicates that the process is endothermic for o-nitrophenol. On the other hand m- and p-nitrophenols exhibited lower rates of adsorption at higher temperatures suggesting a regular exothermic process taking place. Results were analyzed according to the Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Redushkevich (D-R) isotherm equations using linearized correlation coefficient at different temperatures. R(L) separation factors for Langmuir and the n values for Freundlich isotherms showed that m- and p-nitrophenols are favorably adsorbed by HDTMA-B and, p-nitrophenol is favored by PEG-B. Adsorption of o-, m- and p-nitrophenols as single components or from their binary mixtures on HDTMA-B and, p-nitrophenol on PEG-B are all defined to be physical in nature.

Regeneration of Modified Bentonite Loaded with Phenol Using Supercritical Fluids

The desorption of phenol from organically modified bentonite (ODTMA–bentonite) using supercritical fluids was studied. Parameters such as pressure, temperature, supercritical fluid flow rate and co-solvent (entrainer) concentration were investigated. The maximum desorption of phenol (ca. 98 w/w%) using supercritical CO2 (SC CO2) was obtained by operating at 500 bar, 353 K and 3.33 × 10−8 m3 SC CO2/s. In the presence of ethanol as a co-solvent (10 v/v%), the maximum desorption of phenol attained a value of 97 w/w% using supercritical CO2 at low temperature (313 K) and pressure (300 bar) and a high supercritical fluid flow rate (3.33 × 10−8 m3 SC CO2/s). In addition, the results showed that the regenerated ODTMA–bentonite retained its adsorption power towards phenol even after several regeneration cycles. It was therefore concluded that exhausted/used organobentonites might be regenerated via processes involving supercritical fluid extraction.