Abstract

The adsorption of phenol by sodium zeolite was investigated to assess its possible use as an adsorbent. The adsorption of phenol is found to be the most important problem being faced by many industries like textiles, pharmaceuticals, petrochemical industries etc. The optimum conditions for maximum adsorption in terms of pH (3 to 6), contact time, amount of the adsorbent and adsorbent equilibrium were identified. The Freundlich and Langmuir models were used for the mathematical description of adsorption equilibrium and it was found that the experimental data fitted very well to the Langmuir model. The results indicate that sodium zeolite can be employed as a low cost alternative to commercial adsorbent in the removal of phenol from aqueous solutions.

Key words: Phenol, adsorption, sodium zeolite, Freundlich, Langmuir