Use of cationic surfactants to modify soil surfaces to promote sorption and retard migration of hydrophobic organic compounds

Abstract

Cationic surfactants can be used to modify surfaces of soils and subsurface materials to promote adsorption of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOC). Batch and column experiments were performed to investigated this phenomenon with the cationic surfactant dodecylpyridinium (DP), a series of chlorobenzenes as representative HOC, and a low organic carbon aquifer material (Lula). The adsorption isotherm of DP was highly nonlinear, at micromolar concentrations, DP was adsorbed strongly but not irreversibly; at millimolar concentrations, adsorption was relatively weak. Distribution ratios of the chlorobenzenes varied nonlinearly with DP loading