A novel organo-zeolite adduct for environmental applications: Sorption of phenol

A novel organo-zeolite adduct has been synthesized by sorbing humic acids (HA) onto zeolitic tuff and then heating the resulting complex at 330 °C for 1.5 h. Desorption tests showed that this procedure effectively immobilized HA on the tuff. The crystal structure of the zeolitic tuff and the chemical structure of HA were not altered during the preparation. Phenol sorption analysis demonstrated that the HA–zeolite adduct had good sorbing properties; moreover, the sorbed amount markedly decreased with increased ionic strength. These results point to prospective application of the HA–zeolite adduct as a low-cost and environmentally friendly sorbent for water purification from phenol and possibly other neutral organic pollutants.

► A stable humic acids-zeolitic tuff adduct has been synthesized by a heating procedure.
► The adduct has good adsorbing properties for phenol.
► The adduct is easy to prepare, has a low cost and is environmentally friendly.