| The present study deals with removal of
4-chloro-2-nitrophenol (4C2NP) as a model contaminant
from pharmaceutical and pesticide industries using titanium
dioxide nanoparticles as an adsorbent. 4C2NP is
recalcitrant and persistent toward biodegradation and its
generation in aqueous environment during formulation,
distribution and field application of pesticides is often
unavoidable. Batch experiments were carried out to
investigate the effect of contact time, nano-titanium dioxide
dosage, initial pH, initial 4C2NP concentration and
temperature on adsorption efficiency. The results showed
that the adsorption capacity was increased with increasing
4C2NP concentration and temperature. Optimum conditions
for 4C2NP adsorption were found to be initial
pH & 2, nano-titanium dioxide dosage & 0.01 g/250 mL
and equilibrium time & 1 h. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles
recorded a maximum capacity of 86.3 mg/g at optimal
conditions. The linear correlation coefficients of Langmuir,
Freundlich and Temkin isotherms were obtained. The
results revealed that the Freundlich isotherm fitted the
experimental data better than the other isotherm models. |