Performance of modified montmorillonite clay in mercury adsorption process and thermodynamic studies

Abstract: The montmorillonite clay sample from amazon region, Pará State, Brazil, was used for intercalation process with pyridine (P) and organofunctionalization with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS). The montmorillonite-P/APS shows variation of d001 values, by changing d001 from 1.15 to 2.10nm. The original and modified samples were used for mercury cation adsorption from aqueous solution at room temperature and pH 6.0. The energetic effect caused by mercury cation adsorption was determined though calorimetric titration at the solid–liquid interface and gave a net thermal effect that enabled the calculation of the exothermic values and the equilibrium constant. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]