Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide‐coated agrosorbents and their high benzene adsorption performance from aqueous solution

Abstract

Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide-coated agrosorbents were successfully synthesized through firstly mercerization of raw banana trunk (Raw-BT) with alkali (M-BT) and finally coating with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (M-CTAB-BT). The characterization was done using an energy dispersive X-ray spectrophotometer, a Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer and a field emission scanning electron microscope. The Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller analysis was also conducted. The benzene adsorption performance of BT agrosorbents was improved by mercerization and surfactant coating according to the following order: Raw-BT (340.25 3 10 2 mmol/g) < CTAB-BT (382.41 3 10 23 mmol/ g) < M-CTAB-BT (535.62 3 10 23 mmol/g). The adsorption data obeyed the Langmuir and pseudo-second order (PSO) kinetic models with film diffusion as the rate-limiting step. The agrosorbent regeneration as well as comparison to literature data indicated the modified BT and thus the agrowaste biomass could be alternative agrosorbent precursors for removing benzene from aqueous solutions.

Enhanced adsorption capacity and selectivity toward inorganic and organic mercury ions from aqueous solution by dye‐affinity adsorbents

“…Basically, an adsorption process involves four steps: (1) bulk diffusion; (2) film diffusion; (3) intraparticle diffusion; and (4) chemical interaction. The first three steps are categorized as physical phenomena (or diffusion steps), while the fourth step corresponds to the chemical interactions (i.e., chemical phenomenon) . The bulk diffusion occurs in bulk liquid phase followed by the film diffusion through the liquid/boundary film at the outer adsorbent surfaces and the intraparticle diffusion in the pores of the adsorbent particles.…”