Adsorption of tannic acid from aqueous solution onto surfactant-modified zeolite

► Surfactant modified zeolites (SMZs) have a good tannic acid (TA) adsorption capacity. ► Adsorption capacity for SMZ with bilayer was relatively high at solution pH 3.5-7.0. ► Adsorption was well described by pseudo-second-order kinetic model. ► Adsorption fitted well with Langmuir, Redlich-Peterson and Sips isotherm models. ► Coexisting Cu(II) in aqueous solution resulted in markedly enhanced TA adsorption.