Investigation of Titania Addition into Tar Sands for Removal of Phenol from Aqueous Solutions

Tar sands were found to remove significant amounts of phenol from aqueous solution in the presence of titania; about 70% at an initial concentration of 10 ppm. Batch sorption experiments showed that phenol uptake was increased with either an increase in initial phenol concentration, percentage of titania in the sorbent or pre-activation temperature. On the other hand, the presence of soft ions such as sodium, Na + , or potassium, K + , or the increase of solution temperature suppressed the uptake of phenol. Physical pre-activation of the tar sands influenced the adsorption process positively. The sorption process appears to be exothermic and relatively fast; the equilibrium isotherm data were well represented by either Langmuir or Freundlich models.