Removal kinetics and mechanism for phenol uptake by surfactant-modified alumina

Abstract

The present work has been devoted to study the kinetics and the mechanism of the phenol removal from water by surfactant-modified alumina (SMA). Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), an anionic surfactant (AS) was used for the surface modification of neutral alumina. Micelle-like structures are formed on the surface of alumina, which was used for the removal of phenol from aquatic environment through the process, called adsolubilization. The SMA was found to be very efficient showing >90% phenol removal from a 50 mg/L phenol bearing solution with only 12 g/L of adsorbent dose. The kinetic study was conducted and the experimental data were analysed by different kinetic models viz., first order, second order, pseudo-first and pseudo-second order models. The details of rate-limiting step were studied. Isotherm study was conducted to find the maximum adsorption capacity and different isotherm models were analysed. The experiments were conducted with both phenol-spiked distilled water and synthetically prepared wastewater.

Keywords:

• Alumina
• Anionic surfactant
• Sodium dodecyl sulfate
• Adsorption
• Surfactantmodified alumina
• Phenol
• Removal
• Adsolubilization