Adsorption behaviors of acetaminophen onto sediment in the Weihe River, Shaanxi, China

Adsorption behaviors of acetaminophen onto sediment in the Weihe River were described. The impact factors in the processes of adsorption, such as contact time, solution pH, temperature, and ionic strength, were determined by experiments. The experimental results were analyzed by kinetic and isotherm models. The adsorption kinetics was found to follow a pseudo-first-order model. The equilibrium adsorption data fitted well with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. However, the Langmuir isotherm was more suitable to describe the adsorption. Thermodynamics parameters such as Gibbs-free energy change (ΔG0), enthalpy change (ΔH0) and entropy change (ΔS0) were calculated. Results showed that the adsorption was feasible, spontaneous, entropy increasing, and endothermic in nature, which reached equilibrium in about 24 hours. The adsorption capacity did not cause obvious change at solution pH 3.0–9.0, and decreased in solution pH 9.0–11.0. The presence of electrolytes such as NaCl in aqueous solution had a significant negative effect on the adsorption. The mechanisms controlling the adsorption were supposed to be chemisorption.