Bisphenol-A modified hyper-cross-linked polystyrene resin for salicylic acid removal from aqueous solution: Adsorption equilibrium, kinetics and breakthrough studies

In this study, a series of bisphenol-A modified hyper-cross-linked polystyrene resins labeled as HJ-L00, HJ-L02, HJ-L04, HJ-L06 and HJ-L08 were synthesized, characterized and evaluated for adsorptive removal of salicylic acid from aqueous solutions. The structural characterization results indicated that the resins possessed predominant micropores/mesopores, moderate specific surface area and a few bisphenol-A groups on the surface. All the bisphenol-A modified hyper-cross-linked resins were effective for removing salicylic acid from aqueous solutions, and sample HJ-L02 had the largest adsorption capacity. The adsorption equilibrium data were correlated by the Freundlich isotherm model, and a positive adsorption enthalpy was obtained. The kinetic data were analyzed with two diffusion models and indicated that the intra-particle diffusion was the sole rate-controlling step in the first stage. The dynamic experimental results showed that the breakthrough point of the HJ-L02 adsorbent was at 90.2 BV (bed volume, 1 BV = 10 mL) for a feed concentration of 500.0 mg/L of salicylic acid, and 14.0 BV of 1% of sodium hydroxide could completely regenerate the HJ-L02 adsorbent column.

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► Bisphenol-A modified hyper-cross-linked resin adsorbents.
► Shift of pore structures from mesopores to micropores.
► Improved efficiency for removing salicylic acid by adsorption.
► Report of micropore diffusion time constants.
► Adsorption and desorption column dynamics.