Removal of anionic surfactants from wastewater by magnetic mineral sorbents

The simplest and most effective method of removing low concentrations of anionic surfactants such as sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate (SDBS) and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is adsorption. Among adsorbents the natural clays are cheap and promising for these purposes. However, there are significant difficulties in removal of spent sorbent after the adsorption process. So, the creation of magnetic sorbents that can be effectively removed from water after sorption by magnetic separation will be a successful decision. The aim of this investigation is the creation of cheap and efficient magnetic sorbents based on natural clays and magnetite for anionic surfactant removal from wastewater. We have synthesized a series of magnetic sorbents from different natural clays with a content of magnetite from 2 to 10 wt%. The ability of magnetic sorbents to remove SDBS and SLS from aqueous solutions has been studied for different adsorbate concentrations by varying the amount of adsorbent, temperature and shaking time. Thermodynamic parameters were calculated from the slope and intercept of the linear plots of ln K against 1/ T . Analysis of adsorption results obtained at different temperatures showed that the adsorption pattern on magnetic sorbents correspond to the Langmuir isotherm. It is shown that with increasing the content of magnetite in the magnetic sorbents improves not only their separation from water by magnetic separation, but adsorption capacity to SDBS and SLS. Thus, we obtained of cheap magnetic sorbents based on natural clays and magnetite by the easy way, which not only quickly separated from the solution by magnetic separation, but effectively remove anionic surfactants.