Abstract
Silicalite-1 and HZSM-5 zeolites were used as the adsorbents for selective adsorption of p-nitrotoluene (p-NT) from simulated wastewater containing p-NT and o-nitrotoluene (o-NT). Results showed that adsorption behaviors of p-NT in the zeolites were different from o-NT. The maximum adsorption amounts of p-NT in the zeolites were found to be approximately 4 molecules per unit cell (mol./u.c.), irrespective of adsorption temperatures investigated, which were markedly higher than those of o-NT. In addition, the presence of acid sites led to an enhanced affinity of p-NT adsorption and to suppressed adsorption of o-NT in HZSM-5 zeolite compared with silicalite-1. Adsorption kinetic results showed that rate constants of p-NT were markedly higher than those of o-NT in silicalite-1 and HZSM-5 zeolite. For the separation of p-NT, enhanced selectivity of HZSM-5 zeolite for p-NT adsorption was observed compared with silicalite-1. Under our optimized conditions, p-NT with purity of 98.2 % could be recovered with HZSM-5 zeolite, which was ascribed to the marked differences in adsorption amounts and rate constants between p-NT and o-NT in the zeolite.
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