Removal of Lead Cations by Novel Organoclays Derived from Bentonite and Amphoteric and Nonionic Surfactants

Abstract

For many decades, natural and modified clay minerals have been used as adsorbents to clean up aquatic and soil ecosystems contaminated with organic and inorganic pollutants. In this study, organoclays based on bentonite and various amphoteric and nonionic surfactants were synthesized and tested as effective sorbents for lead ions. The maximum values of R were obtained when describing the sorption processes using the Langmuir model, which ranged from 0.97 to 0.99. The adsorption of lead ions by these organoclays was investigated using different sorption models including the Langmuir, Freundlich, and BET. It was found that, according to the values of limiting adsorption to the Langmuir equation, the synthesized organoclays formed an increasing series: organoclay with cocamide diethanolamine < bentonite < organoclay with lauramine oxide < organoclay with sodium cocoiminodipropionate < organoclay with disodium cocoamphodiacetate