Kinetics of adsorption of 2-chloroethylethylsulphide on Al2O3 nanoparticles with and without impregnants

Alumina nanoparticles in the size range of 2-30 nm and surface area 375 m2/g were synthesized using aerogel route and then characterized using N2-BET, SEM, TEM, XRD, FTIR and TGA techniques. Thereafter, these were impregnated with reactive chemicals and tested for their potential by conducting studies on kinetics of adsorption of 2-chloroethylethylsulphide (2-CEES) under static conditions. Kinetics was studied using linear driving force and Fickian diffusion model. The kinetics parameters such as equilibration constant, equilibration capacity, diffusional exponent and adsorbate-adsorbent interaction constant were also determined. AP-Al2O3 with 10% impregnation of MoVPA (V3) and NaOH showed the maximum (574 mg/g) and minimum (88 mg/g) uptake of 2-CEES among impregnated systems respectively. All impregnated systems except NaOH impregnation showed the values of diffusional exponent to be <0.5, indicated the diffusion mechanism to be Fickian, whereas AP-Al2O3 with and without NaOH impregnation showed the diffusional mechanism to be anomalous. Hydrolysis and dehydrohalogenation reactions (identified using GC/MS technique) were found to be the route of degradation of 2-CEES.