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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Quantification of Humic and Fulvic Acids in Humate Ores, DOC, Humified Materials and Humic Substance-Containing Commercial Products
Published on: March 18, 2022
Removal of humic acid from aqueous solution by cetylpyridinium bromide modified zeolite
Yanhui Zhan1, Zhiliang Zhu, Jianwei Lin
1State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China. zhanyanhuijw@126.com
Abstract:
Natural zeolite was modified by loading cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB) to create more efficient sites for humic acid (HA) adsorption. The natural and CPB modified zeolites were characterized with X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The effects of various experimental parameters such as contact time, initial HA concentration, solution pH and coexistent Ca2+, upon HA adsorption onto CPB modified zeolites were evaluated. The results showed that natural zeolite had negligible affinity for HA in aqueous solutions, but CPB modified zeolites exhibited high adsorption efficiency for HA. A higher CPB loading on natural zeolites exhibited a larger HA adsorption capacity. Acidic pH and coexistent Ca2+ were proved to be favorable for HA adsorption onto CPB modified zeolite. The kinetic process was well described by pseudo second-order model. The experimental isotherm data fitted well to Langmuir and Sips models. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of CPB modified zeolite with surfactant bilayer coverage was found to be 92.0 mg/g.
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