Equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic studies on the adsorption of phenol onto chitin.

The adsorption of phenol onto chitin, a naturally occurring material was studied as a function of initial pH, temperature and initial phenol concentration. The highest phenol adsorption capacity was determined as 21.5 mgg(-1) for 300 mgdm(-3) initial phenol concentration at pH 1.0 and 40 degrees C. Adsorption data were well described by the Freundlich Model, although they could be modeled by the Langmuir equation. The pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models were applied to test the experimental data. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model provided the best correlation of the experimental data compared to the pseudo-first-order model. The thermodynamic constants of the adsorption process; DeltaG degrees , DeltaH degrees and DeltaS degrees were evaluated as -19.4 kJmol(-1) (at 40 degrees C), 10.2 kJmol(-1) and 0.093 kJmol(-1)K(-1), respectively. These showed that adsorption of phenol on chitin was endothermic and spontaneous.