Clay materials have hogged the limelight for their effectiveness
in environmental remediation. In this paper, we report an effective
solid phase extraction method for mercury based on the adsorption
of tetrachloromercurate(II) anion with trioctylamine intercalated
onto sodium montmorillonite. The adsorption is facile in acidic medium,
and the adsorbent was well characterized by diverse physicochemical
and spectroscopic techniques. Various isotherm models were employed
to correlate the experimental adsorption data. The electrostatic interaction
between HgCl4
2‑ and the protonated amine
is well supported by a Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum adsorption
capacity of 140.84 mg g–1. The ordered transition
state that arises due to the proximity of the HgCl4
2‑ and the positively charged amine is accompanied by
a decrease in the translational entropy of the system. The N2 adsorption–desorption isotherm study revealed the mesoporous
nature of the adsorbent, and the thermodynamically favorable adsorption
process resonates well with the ensuing negative free energy and enthalpy
changes in accordance with the sorption mechanism. Packed bed column
study demonstrated the scale up to 800 mL sample volume at 10 mg L–1 Hg(II) concentration, and the adsorbent could be
regenerated and reused for 10 cycles with thiourea as the eluent.
The removal of mercury from a coal fly ash sample validated the method.