Adsorption of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) from aqueous solution by porous polymeric adsorbents

MTBE has emerged as an important water pollutant because of its high mobility, persistence, and toxicity. In this study, a postcrosslinked polymeric adsorbent was prepared by postcrosslinking of a commercial chloromethylated polymer, and a nonpolar porous polymer with comparable surface area and micropore volume to the postcrosslinked polymer was prepared by suspended polymerization. The postcrosslinked polymer, nonpolar porous polymer and chloromethylated polymer were characterized by N2 adsorption, FTIR and XPS analysis. Results showed that postcrosslinking reaction led to the generation of a microporous postcrosslinked polymer with BET surface area 782 m2 g−1, average pore width 3.0 nm and micropore volume 0.33 cm3 g−1. FTIR and XPS analysis indicated the formation of surface oxygen-containing groups on the postcrosslinked polymer. The three polymers were used as adsorbents to remove aqueous methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). Adsorption of MTBE over the postcrosslinked polymeric adsorbent was found to follow the linear adsorption isotherm, whereas MTBE adsorption onto the nonpolar porous polymer and chloromethylated polymer followed Langmuir adsorption model. Comparison of adsorption capacities of the postcrosslinked polymer, chloromethylated polymer and nonpolar porous polymer revealed that the adsorption of MTBE from aqueous solution is dependent on both pore structure and surface chemistry of polymeric adsorbents, and the high adsorption efficiency of the postcrosslinked polymer towards MTBE is attributed to its high surface area, large micropore volume and moderate hydrophility. The process of MTBE adsorption onto the adsorbents can be well described by pseudo-second-order kinetics, and the rate of adsorption decreased at higher MTBE initial concentration.