Mechanism of organic pollutants sorption from aqueous solution by cationic tunable organoclays

A variety of quaternary ammonium salts with different carbon chain lengths were used to modify and convert montmorillonite clay to organoclays. The surface modification attributing to the wettability was investigated using various techniques. The zeta-potential values of all clays showed pH dependency. The prepared organoclays were utilized for phenol (protic) and nitrobenzene (aprotic) adsorption in a batch system, with pH and contact time as...