Adsorption of benzoic acid by CTAB exchanged montmorillonite

This paper reports the adsorption of benzoic acid from water on cetyl trimethylammonium exchanged montmorillonite (CTAB-montmorillonite). Important factors are the adsorbent concentration, ionic strength, equilibrium time and pH. The largest adsorption is at pH 9. The adsorption kinetics data fitted the pseudo-second-order equation. The adsorption isotherms at different pH were linear indicating a partition mechanism. Up to about 61% of the dissolved benzoic acid was adsorbed by CTAB-montmorillonite. These results indicate that CTAB-montmorillonite is a potential adsorbent for benzoic acid.