TY - JOUR JF - RSC Advances A1 - Kong, H. A1 - Cheu, S.-C. A1 - Othman, N.S. A1 - Song, S.-T. A1 - Saman, N. A1 - Johari, K. A1 - Mat, H. UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84960157186&doi=10.1039%2fc6ra00911e&partnerID=40&md5=d9176126581272e16a7cf32f31e7a9f1 VL - 6 Y1 - 2016/// N2 - The banana trunk was modified using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (Pluronic 123), and 4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenyl-polyethylene glycol (Triton X-100) to develop novel low-cost adsorbents for benzene removal from aqueous solution. The surface morphology and functional groups of the synthesized adsorbents were determined by a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometer. The Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were also conducted to study adsorbent characteristics. The benzene adsorptive performance of the synthesized adsorbents was evaluated in a batch adsorption experiment at various experimental conditions. It was found that the highest benzene adsorption capacity (280.890 � 10-3 mmol g-1) was obtained for M-TX100-BT. The fundamental adsorption studies revealed that the benzene adsorption process was found to be thermodynamically non-spontaneous and all were fitted well by the Langmuir isotherm model. The adsorption kinetic data obeyed the pseudo-second kinetic model with the film diffusion as the rate-limiting step. The application prospects of the Triton X-100 modified banana trunk adsorbent were demonstrated through the regeneration study which revealed that it can also be repeatedly used for at least up to five-adsorption/desorption cycles and its adsorption capacity was comparable to the literature data of similar adsorbents. Thus, banana trunk agrowaste could be an alternative low-cost adsorbent precursor for the adsorptive benzene removal from an aqueous solution. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016. IS - 29 ID - scholars7958 KW - Adsorbents; Benzene; Costs; Ethylene glycol; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; Fruits; Isotherms; Polyethylene glycols; Polyols; Scanning electron microscopy; Solutions; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy KW - Batch adsorption experiments; Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide; Experimental conditions; Field emission scanning electron microscopes; Fourier transform infrared; Langmuir isotherm models; Sodium dodecyl sulphate; Surfactant modifications KW - Adsorption EP - 24751 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry SN - 20462069 N1 - cited By 12 TI - Surfactant modification of banana trunk as low-cost adsorbents and their high benzene adsorptive removal performance from aqueous solution SP - 24738 AV - none ER -