Sorptive Behavior of Hexadecyltrimethylammonium-Modified Montmorillonite: Elucidating Effects of Interlayer Chemistry and Contaminant Structure

In the face of global industrialization and increased levels of organic wastewater contaminants entering the environment, organically modified clays (organoclays) have arisen as promising low-cost remediation technique. The... [ view full abstract ]

In the face of global industrialization and increased levels of organic wastewater contaminants entering the environment, organically modified clays (organoclays) have arisen as promising low-cost remediation technique. The present work contributes to the development of a comprehensive model relating organoclay structure to the efficacy of contaminant sorption from aqueous environments. This model will, in turn, ultimately be used for the design of novel, nontoxic, and maximally effective organoclays. Specifically, this research seeks to determine the effects of contaminant size on sorptive efficacy, and to relate this sorptive behavior to organoclay structure. To this end, natural clays have been modified with varying levels of hexadecyltrimethylammonium, a long-chain hydrocarbon surfactant molecule. A variety of chemical and geological techniques (TCN, XRD, FT-IR, TGA) have then been utilized to comprehensively probe the structure of these prepared organoclays under both wet and dry environments. Finally, adsorption isotherms will be conducted to systematically determine sorptive behavior.