Zeolites in Phenol Removal in the Presence of Cu(II) Ions—Comparison of Sorption Properties after Chitosan Modification

Nowadays, the contamination of water with phenol is a serious environmental problem. This compound occurs very often with heavy metal ions which makes purification of water even more difficult. This article presents the problem of the removal of phenol from aqueous solutions in the presence of Cu(II) ions on synthetic zeolite NaP1 and zeolite NaP1 modified with chitosan. The adsorbents were determined with the use of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The studies on isotherms and batch kinetics under diversified experimental conditions with respect to initial concentration, contact time, and pH were discussed. Both Cu(II) and phenol adsorption increases with the initial concentration. Different isotherm models correspond well with the data acquired through experiments. The kinetics of adsorption follows the pseudo-second order rate equation. The studies indicate that the obtained sorbents can be employed for efficient removal of phenol from wastewater in the presence of Cu(II) ions.