Use of the Geomaterial for the Elimination of Surfactant Dodecylbenzene Sulfonic Acid from Aqueous Solution

This study is dealing with the removal of dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid surfactant (DBSA) by a new geomaterial composite formed by bentonite (mostly Ca-montmorillonite) and activated carbon. Both components are the sorbent which are bonded with concrete. The DBSA surfactant enters the environment primarily through wastewater and sludge; this can lead to severe water resource pollution. A series of batch adsorption experiment were carried out under various operating; initial concentration, pH, temperature, concentration dose of the adsorbent and the surfactant. The interest of this study lies whether the new material has more promising sorbent properties than the individual components. A comparison between the geomaterial and its individual components has been established by performing adsorption and kinetic experiments. The results indicate that the removal of DBSA was primarily attributed to the potential sorbent of the inorganic part of geomaterial. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) was found to play an important role because there was no further adsorption beyond the CMC value. Equilibrium isotherms were analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) equations. The equilibrium data were well described by Langmuir and D-R equations at all range of operating parameters.