Organobentonites as multifunctional adsorbents of organic and inorganic water pollutants

Abstract

The aim of this study was to find a low cost, easy to synthesize and efficient adsorbent for the simultaneous adsorption of both organic and inorganic pollutants (including textile dyes, toxic metals, etc.). The starting material, domestic bentonite clay from Bogovina, was modified with amounts of hexadecyltrimethylammonium cations corresponding to 0.5 and 1.0 times the value of the cation exchange capacity. The organobentonites were tested as adsorbents in a three-dye-containing solution, a three-component solution of Pb2+, Cd2+ and Ni2+ and a hexa-component solution containing all the investigated dyes and toxic metal cations. The used adsorbents showed the highest affinity toward acid yellow 99 and Ni2+. Dye adsorption was enhanced in the presence of toxic metal cations, while the adsorption of all toxic cations from the hexa-component solution was lower than from the three-component solution containing only toxic cations. The synthesized hexadecyltrimethylammonium bentonite could be regarded as an efficient multifunctional adsorbent for the investigated types of water pollutants.