In order to find alternative low‐cost adsorbents for volatile organic liquids, the effectiveness of nickel oxide nanoparticles‐modified diatomite (NONMD) in removing benzene was assessed. The impact of different operation parameters such as pH, contact time, initial benzene concentration, and adsorption dosage on the adsorption process was evaluated and optimum experimental conditions were identified. Surface area and morphology of the nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller (BET) isotherms, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX) analysis. The isotherm and kinetics effect of the adsorbent were evaluated.
The adsorption equilibria of toluene from aqueous solutions on natural and modified diatomite were examined at different operation parameters such as pH, contact time, initial toluene concentration was evaluated and optimum experimental conditions were identified. The surface area and morphology of the nanoparticles were characterized by SEM, BET, XRD, FTIR and EDX analysis. It was found that in order to obtain the highest possible removal of toluene, the experiments can be carried out at pH 6, temperature 25°C, an agitation speed of 200 rpm, an initial toluene concentration of 150 mg/L, a centrifugal rate of 4000 rpm, adsorbent dosage = 0.1 g and a process time of 90 min. The results of this work show that the maximum percentage removal of toluene from aqueous solution in the optimum conditions for NONMD was 96.91% (145.36 mg/g). Furthermore, under same conditions, the maximum adsorption of natural diatomite was 71.45% (107.18 mg/g). Both adsorption kinetic and isotherm experiments were carried out. The experimental data showed that the adsorption follows the Langmuir model and Freundlich model on natural and modified diatomite respectively. The kinetics results were found to conform well to pseudo-second order kinetics model with good correlation. Thus, this study demonstrated that the modified diatomite could be used as potential adsorbent for removal of toluene from aqueous solution.
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