Removal of atrazine from water by use of nonionic polymeric resins

The objective of this work was to assess the capability of organic hydrophobic polymeric resins Amberlite XAD-2, -4, and -XAD-7 to remove atrazine from water. The atrazine adsorption on the three different adsorbents was measured by batch equilibrium technique and isotherm types and parameters were estimated. Two theoretical models were applied based on a Freundlich and a Langmuir isotherms. The effect of atrazine chemical composition and structure as well as the nature of solid surface on the efficiency of adsorption was evaluated. The influence of pH and ionic strength also was studied. Retention changes in the order XAD-7> XAD-4 > XAD-2 in intermediate and high pH solutions and in the order XAD-4> XAD-7> XAD-2 in low pH solutions. The more polar Amberlite XAD-7 was proved the more effective for atrazine removal from water. Generally, as the ionic strength increases, the adsoprtion of atrazine decreases.