Coupled Organoclay/Micelle Action for the Adsorption of Diclofenac

A Na-smectite clay mineral (Na-Mt) was exchanged with various amounts of benzyldimethyltetradecyl ammonium chloride cationic surfactant (BDTAC) up to four times the cation exchange capacity (CEC). The adsorption properties of these organoclays as well as a coupled micelle/organoclay process were evaluated to remove an anionic pharmaceutical product, the diclofenac (DCF), recognized as a recalcitrant compound for conventional water treatments and to be poorly adsorbed onto untreated clay mineral. The DCF affinity appears to depend on the lipophilic character of organoclays in correlation to the density of intercalated BDTA and is particularly enhanced for sorbent systems with free surfactant or micelle in solution. The combination of both organclay and BDTA in excess or micelle as a one pot adsorption system appears to be the most efficient material for the sequestration of DCF and other pharmaceutical products (PPs) with a K_F Freundlich constant of 1.7 L g^-1 and no restriction of the adsorbed DCF amount as the linear adsorption isotherm shows. A BDTA hydrophobic core micelle coupled with a positive electric charge forms an organic complex with DCF that is properly intercalated within the interlayer space of BDTA-Mt organoclays as both Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) data supported.