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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Preparation of Functional Silica Using a Bioinspired Method
Published on: August 1, 2018
Adsorption of phenol and benzyl alcohol onto surfactant modified silica
Geir Martin Førland1, Anne Marit Blokhus
1Chemical Institute, Faculty of Engineering, Bergen University College, P.O. Box 7030, N-5020 Bergen, Norway. geir.forland@hib.no <geir.forland@hib.no>
Abstract:
The adsorption of the surfactant, dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide, DTAB, and the co-adsorption of the additives phenol and benzyl alcohol, onto silica from aqueous solutions are investigated. The adsorption of DTAB is found to increase with increasing alcohol concentration in solutions where the DTAB concentration is below the cmc. Moreover, the corresponding adsorption of DTAB decreases when the DTAB concentration is above the cmc. The co-adsorption of the alcohol is found to increase with increasing alcohol concentration, and benzyl alcohol co-adsorbs more strongly than phenol. The surfactant modified silica shows a very high ability to incorporate phenol and benzyl alcohol. The results are discussed in relation to solubilization site and surfactant aggregate shape.
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