A new sorbent that simultaneously sequesters multiple classes of pollutants from water: Surfactant modified zeolite

A zeolite (ZFA) was synthesized from coal fly ash and then modified using hexadecyltrimethylammonium. The surfactant modified ZFA (SMZFA) was evaluated for its versatility to sequester multiple classes of pollutants from water. The target pollutants include ionic inorganic pollutants (ammonium and phosphate), ionic organic pollutants (methylene blue and humic acid), ionizable organic pollutants (bisphenol A, ρ-chlorophenol and phenol, with different pKa), and electrically neutral organic pollutants (aniline, nitrobenzene, and naphthalene, with different hydrophobicity). The SMZFA showed high potential for the retention of ammonium and phosphate, being comparable with ZFA. While the negative charge in the internal pores of zeolite was responsible for the retention of ammonium, the oxides of CaO, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 in the non-zeolite fraction, which originated from coal fly ash but received modification during zeolite synthesis, accounted for the removal of phosphate. Results also showed that while ZFA had little affinity for humic acid, the ionizable, and the electrically neutral organic compounds, SMZFA exhibited greatly enhanced adsorption capacity. Thus, the surfactant modified external surface, which formed a bilayer micelle of zeolite, imparts a hydrophobic characteristic that enables the uptake of the organic pollutants. We showed that SMZFA is a promising versatile sorbent for water treatment.