Sorption behaviors of aromatic anions on loess soil modified with cationic surfactant

Modification of soils with hydrophobic cationic surfactants is an effective approach for enhancing the sorptive capabilities of soil in the vadose zone for the purpose of retaining organic contaminants prior to cleanup. The objective of this study was to examine the sorptive behavior of the cationic surfactant-modified loess soil for aromatic anions in the aqueous phase in an attempt to define the sorptive mechanisms. Some dominant factors governing the sorption, such as ionic strength and divalent heavy metal cation, were investigated. The sorption isotherms of 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) and benzoic acid (BA) in the modified soil samples were obtained using the batch equilibration method. Under the laboratory conditions, the modified loess soil utilized in this study was prepared by replacing the cations of loess soil with a cationic surfactant-hexadecyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA) bromide. The acidic aromatic compounds, DNP and BA existing as aromatic anions in the natural mixture of loess soil and aqueous phase, were selected as indicator compounds to measured the sorption behaviors of aromatic anions on the HDTMA-modified loess soil. The results confirmed that the sorptive capabilities of aromatic anions in loess soil were greatly enhanced by modification with HDTMA. The increase of ionic strength and the addition of divalent heavy metal cation Zn(2+) significantly increased the sorption of aromatic anions on the HDTMA-modified loess soil. In binary solute systems, the sorbed amounts either of DNP or BA on the HDTMA-modified loess soil were reduced if two compounds existed simultaneously in the soil. This results indicated that competitive adsorption between the two aromatic anions occurred in soil matrix.