Removal of diquat and deisopropylatrazine from water by montmorillonite-(Ce or Zr) phosphate crosslinked compounds

The adsorption of diquat (1,1′-ethylene-2,2′-dipyridilium dibromide) and one intermediate compound of the degradation of atrazine in water, deisopropylatrazine, on two montmorillonite-(Ce or Zr) phosphate crosslinked compounds from aqueous solution under conditions of varied temperature (288 K and 308 K) has been studied. The experimental adsorption isotherms obtained for diquat on both adsorbents may be classified as H-type of the Giles classification which suggests that diquat molecules are strongly adsorbed on the samples. For the deisopropylatrazine, L-type isotherms were obtained for both montmorillonite-(Ce or Zr) phosphate compounds, which suggests a moderate affinity of this metabolite by the active sites of the adsorbents. The increase of temperature from 288 K to 308 K does not clearly affect the adsorption process of diquat on both adsorbents whereas the deisopropylatrazine adsorption decreases slightly as temperature increases possibly due to a mainly physical process. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic studies reveal that at the pH generated by the adsorbents, the cationic herbicide interacts to a greater extent with the negative charged surface of the adsorbents than deisopropylatrazine. For both model compounds, the ceriummontmorillonite adsorbent shows the higher capacity of adsorption compared with zirconiummontmorillonite adsorbent.