Abstract
The adsorption behavior of Atrazine on zeolites, prepared from Egyptian kaolin, has been studied in order to consider the application of these types of zeolites in water purification. The batch mode has been employed, using atrazine solution of concentration ranging from 2 to 10 mg/l. The adsorption capacity and distribution coefficients (K-d) were determined for the adsorption system as a function of sorbate concentration. It was found that, under the studies concentrations, the percent of adsorbed atrazine on both zeolites match to Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models. The constants of each model were calculated to assess the adsorption behavior of atrazine on each type of zeolite. According to the equilibrium studies, adsorption of atrazine on zeolite X at lower concentrations is much better than that on zeolite A. The application of Dublin-Kaganer-Radushkevich model revealed physisorption endothermic adsorption process for both zeolites. These results show that natural zeolites hold great potential to remove hazardous materials such as atrazine from water. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.