Elimination of pesticides by natural and modified clays

Abstract

The objective of this study is the variation of natural and modified clays and their use in industrial waste treatment. For this purpose, we carried out several elimination tests of the effluents by adsorption by using two natural clays from different deposits, namely bentonite located in Maghnia and Djabel Debbagh of Ain Berbar and bentonite coupled with cellulose. The adsorption test was performed on a Decis pesticide. The clays that we tested, in the natural state and in the modified state, are the object of a mineralogical and physicochemical characterization by various techniques of analysis: X-ray diffraction, chemical composition, spectroscopy infrared, cation exchange capacity, scanning electron microscopy, measurement of specific surface area, and various adsorption tests concerning kinetics and capacity, as well as kinetic and thermodynamic modeling and adsorption isotherms. The results showed the practical use of clays for the decontamination of waters contaminated by organic pollutants.