Sorption study of 2,4-dichlorophenol on organoclays constructed for soil bioremediation

The adsorption isotherms found were non-linear indicating that the sorption is not only based on a simple partition mechanism. The adsorption coefficients Kd calculated from the initial isotherm slope turned out to be exponential with the organic carbon content of organo-MM (foc). In particular, dialkylammonium-modified MM revealed outstanding sorption characteristics for DCP. The comparison of partially modified organo-MMs with similar foc and volume fraction of surfactant indicated that the surfactant arrangement in the interlayers significantly influences the DCP adsorption. It could be assumed that both the kind and degree of exchanged surfactant play a decisive role in the adsorption of DCP on the organoclays. By performing biodegradation experiments in the presence of dioctadecyldimethylammonium montmorillonite, the complete biodegradation of DCP was achieved demonstrating the applicability of partially modified organoclays for bioremediation.