Bilayer

Catalysis

Adsorption

Ketoprofen

Engineering

Nanoparticle

Ecology

Biology

Materials science

Chromatography

Biochemistry

Chemical engineering

Langmuir adsorption model

Cationic polymerization

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Cetylpyridinium chloride

Membrane

Diclofenac

Zeolite

Diclofenac Sodium

Langmuir

Contamination

Water contamination

Zeta potential

Composite material

Pulmonary surfactant

Monolayer

Chemistry

Clinoptilolite

Microporous and Mesoporous Materials

In this study, composites of the natural zeolites and cationic surfactants cetylpyridinium chloride and Arquad® 2HT-75 were used for removal of two emerging contaminants – diclofenac sodium and ketoprofen. Modifying a clinoptilolite- and a phillipsite-rich tuff, with surfactants with one or two hydrophobic tails, resulted in composites in monolayer and bilayer forms. The intention was to better evaluate interactions of composites with selected molecules. Starting materials and composites were characterized by ATR–FTIR and STA coupled with EGA. The adsorption capacities of the prepared sorbents were estimated by determination of adsorption isotherms and kinetic runs. Maximum adsorption capacity, obtained from the Langmuir model, showed that the best results were for the bilayer form of the composites up to 35 mg/g. Between the two surfactants, composites with cetylpyridinium chloride gave better results. Zeta potential measurements showed that the surfactants turned out to be unstable on the zeolite surface, the only exception being bilayers prepared using the two-tailed surfactant Arquad® 2HT-75. These results suggested possible applications of these composites for water treatment purposes.

Removal of emerging contaminants from water by zeolite-rich composites: A first approach aiming at diclofenac and ketoprofen