sorption, clay minerals, alkylammonium cations, metal cations

Sorption of hexadecyltrimethylammonium, benzyldimethylhexadecylammonium, Cu2+, and Zn2+ on clay minerals kaolinite, montmorillonite, and vermiculite was performed. Increasing of the basal spacing found on the XRD spectra proved intercalation of alkylammonium cations into the interlayer of montmorillonites and vermiculite. IR spectroscopy showed presence of alkylammonium cations in all the modified minerals. The better sorption properties for Cu2+ and Zn2+ were found in the case of the original montmorillonite in comparison with the montmorillonite modified with hexadecyltrimethylammonium cation. In the case of the simultaneous sorption of metal cation and hexadecyltrimethylammonium, sorption of metal cation is preferred and the adsorbed amount of metal cation is comparable with the amount adsorbed on the unmodified montmorillonite. The metals sorption corresponds to the second order kinetics.