Preparation of cationic surfactant-modified kaolin for enhanced adsorption of hexavalent chromium from aqueous solution

In the current work, we have reported a cationic surfactant-modified Ethiopian kaolin for improved adsorption of Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. The raw kaolin was modified by treating with CTAB to enhance the adsorption properties. The crystal structure and vibrational analysis of CTAB–kaolin were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and powder X-ray diffraction (p-XRD) techniques. The successful modification of kaolin by CTAB through intercalation and coating was investigated by XRD and FTIR. p-XRD confirms the raw kaolin obtained from Belesa, Tigo kebele is kaolinite mineral. The study has also focused on the application of kaolin–CTAB for adsorption of hexavalent chromium. The percent removal of Cr(VI) was investigated at different parameters such as pH, contact time, concentration of Cr(VI) and adsorbent dosage. CTAB–kaolin shows 99% removal of Cr(VI) at the adsorption equilibrium (time = 180 min, 100 mg CTAB–kaolin, 10 ppm/100 ml). The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used to investigate the adsorption process of chromium onto kaolin–CTAB composites. The equilibrium data obeyed Langmuir model than Freundlich, which shows that the adsorption process proceeds through monolayer adsorption and maximum adsorption capacity was found to be Qo = 22.72 mg/g. The pseudo-second-order kinetics model is found to be well fitted than Pseudo-first-order kinetics, which implies that the adsorption mechanism more favors electrostatic interaction between chromium and kaolin–CTAB composites. In conclusion, CTAB–kaolin was found to be a promising adsorbent for the efficient removal of Cr(VI) from the aqueous solution.