Perchlorate removal by granular activated carbon coated with cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide

In this study, granular activated carbon (GAC) coated with cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) (GAC-CTAB) was synthesized to remove perchlorate from water via adsorption. Laboratory-scale batch experiments were performed to study the factors affecting the perchlorate adsorption by GAC-CTAB, including the CTAB content and solution pH, and explore the mechanisms behind the adsorption phenomenon. The novel GAC-CTAB material was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), zeta potential measurement and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The characterization tests showed that CTAB was deposited on the GAC surface, pH(pzc) of the material was between 2.0 and 3.0, and the BET specific surface area was reduced from 925 to 729 m(2)/g with the increasing CTAB content from 0 to 0.034 mmol CTAB/g GAC. The adsorption process was better described by a pseudo-second-order kinetics model and the Freundlich adsorption model. The CTAB content and solution pH significantly influenced the kinetics and chemical equilibrium of the adsorption. When the CTAB content was increased from 0.0.023 to 0.135 mmol CTAB/g GAC, the K in the Freundlich adsorption isotherm increased from 0.071 to 0.19 mmol/g. The optimal adsorption typically occurred at pH 2-3, close to the pH(pzc) of the solution. Finally, the mechanisms for the adsorption of perchlorate on GAC-CTAB were associated with surface complexation, electrostatic interaction and ion exchange.