Adsorption of phenol and its derivatives from water using synthetic resins and low-cost natural adsorbents: A review

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.09.003 Byline: Su-Hsia Lin (a), Ruey-Shin Juang (b)(c) Abbreviations: A, Redlich-Peterson constant (L/g); AC, activated carbon; B, Redlich-Peterson constant (L/mg.sup.(1 .sup.- .sup.1/A)); C.sub.e, equilibrium concentration of solute in liquid-phase (mg/L); BDNP, 2-sec-butyl-4,6-dinitrophenol; BFA, bagasse fly ash; CDs, cyclodextrins; CEC, cation exchange capacity; CFA, coal fly ash; CNTs, carbon nanotubes; CP, chlorophenol; CPB, n-cetylpyridinium bromide; CTAB, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide; DCP, dichlorophenol; DMP, dimethylphenol; DNBP, dinitrobutyl phenol; DNP, dinitrophenol; DVB, divinylbenzene; GAC, granular activated carbon; HDTMAB, hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide; K.sub.d, distribution coefficient (L/kg); K.sub.F, Freundlich constant (mg/g) (L/g).sup.n ; K.sub.L, Langmuir constant (L/mg); MAAP, methacrylamidoantipyrine; MP, methylphenol; n, Freundlich exponent; NP, nitrophenol; OTMAC, octodecyl trimethylammonium chloride; PAC, powdered activated carbon; PHEMA, poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate); q.sub.e, equilibrium amount of solute adsorbed (mg/g); SDS, sodium dodecyl sulfate; TCP, trichlorophenol; [beta], exponent lying between 0 and 1 Abstract: In this article, the technical feasibility of the use of activated carbon, synthetic resins, and various low-cost natural adsorbents for the removal of phenol and its derivatives from contaminated water has been reviewed. Instead of using commercial activated carbon and synthetic resins, researchers have worked on inexpensive materials such as coal fly ash, sludge, biomass, zeolites, and other adsorbents, which have high adsorption capacity and are locally available. The comparison of their removal performance with that of activated carbon and synthetic resins is presented in this study. From our survey of about 100 papers, low-cost adsorbents have demonstrated outstanding removal capabilities for phenol and its derivatives compared to activated carbons. Adsorbents that stand out for high adsorption capacities are coal-reject, residual coal treated with H.sub.3PO.sub.4, dried activated sludge, red mud, and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide-modified montmorillonite. Of these synthetic resins, HiSiv 1000 and IRA-420 display high adsorption capacity of phenol and XAD-4 has good adsorption capability for 2-nitrophenol. These polymeric adsorbents are suitable for industrial effluents containing phenol and its derivatives as mentioned previously. It should be noted that the adsorption capacities of the adsorbents presented here vary significantly depending on the characteristics of the individual adsorbent, the extent of chemical modifications, and the concentrations of solutes. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Nanya Institute of Technology, Chung-Li 320, Taiwan (b) Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Yuan Ze University, Chung-Li 32003, Taiwan (c) Fuel Cell Center, Yuan Ze University, Chung-Li 32003, Taiwan Article History: Received 19 June 2008; Revised 26 August 2008; Accepted 19 September 2008