Sorption of different phenol derivatives on a functionalized macroporous nanocomposite of poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) and acid modified bentonite

Macroporous nanocomposite of poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) and acid modified bentonite was prepared by radical suspension copolymerization. Nanocomposite was functionalized with diethylenetriamine (DETA), by ring-opening reaction of the pendant epoxy groups. Functionalization was performed in order to enable phenol derivatives sorption. This new, not sufficiently investigated material, with developed porous structure was denoted CP-S-A-DETA. In this study, the influence of temperature on 4-nitrophenol (4NP) sorption on CP-S-A-DETA was investigated. The chemisorption was estimated as dominant process since activation energy of sorption of 4NP of 54.8 kJ mol(-1) was obtained. After determining the optimal sorption conditions for 4NP, the sorption of 2-nitrophenol (2NP) and 2-chloro-4-nitrophenol (2Cl4NP) on CP-S-A-DETA was investigated with respect to pH, initial concentration and contact time. The 2NP sorption was seldom tested, while according to our knowledge, the 2Cl4NP sorption was not investigated. The isotherm data were best fitted with Langmuir model, while the sorption dynamics obeyed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model for all derivatives