Adsorption and desorption of m-xylene vapor on organically modified montmorillonite

m-Xylene vapor was adsorbed to organically modified montmorillonite (organoclay). Hexadecyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA) was used to modify the surface of the clay. In adsorption experiments, the organoclay, along with the non-modified (washed) clay, was used. m-Xylene was adsorbed from a gaseous phase by using a fixed adsorption bed. The adsorption breakthrough curves and the adsorption isotherms were determined at three different temperatures (24, 34, and 44 °C). The adsorption data were modeled with the BET isotherm equation. It was found that the adsorption isotherms of washed clay exhibited a favorable Type I behavior, which implies that the adsorption capacity is strongly dependent on vapor concentration at low concentration ranges. In regards to the organoclay, isotherms showed a marginally favorable Type II behavior with a reduced adsorption capacity at low concentrations, and exhibited a linear increase at elevated vapor concentrations. The adsorption capacity of both washed clay and organoclay obviously decreased with the temperature. The desorption of m-xylene from the clays was also performed by using pure nitrogen, and the desorption rate constant k was on the order of 10⁻⁵ min⁻¹ for all types of clay.