Adsorption of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole from aqueous solution by organo-bentonite

The adsorption behavior of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole onto organo-bentonite was investigated. Natural bentonite from Gaozhou in Guangdong Province, China was collected. Organo-bentonite was prepared by intercalation of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide into the natural bentonite. The physicochemical properties of the prepared organo-bentonite were characterized by X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results showed that montmorillonite is the main component of the natural bentonite. The basal spacing of the natural bentonite is 1.47 nm, which increased to 1.98 nm on intercalation with cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide. Moreover, both the surface area and pore volume increased with intercalation. Clear CH2 stretching (3000–2800 cm−1) and scissoring (1480–1450 cm−1) modes of the intercalated surfactants were observed for organo-bentonite. Compared with the pseudo first-order kinetic model, the pseudo second-order kinetic model is more suitable to describe the adsorption kinetics of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole onto organo-bentonite. The adsorption capacity of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole onto organo-bentonite increased with increasing initial concentration of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole, but decreased with increasing adsorbent dosage. The adsorption isotherm of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole onto organo-bentonite fits well with the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacity of organo-bentonite for 2-mercaptobenzothiazole was 33.61 mg/g, indicating that organo-bentonite is a promising adsorbent for 2-mercaptobenzothiazole.