Journal of Hazardous Materials B121 (2005) 233–241 Short communication Adsorption of phenolic compounds from aqueous solution onto a macroporous polymer and its aminated derivative: isotherm analysis B.C. Pan a,∗ , X. Zhang a,b , W.M. Zhang a , J.Z. Zheng a , B.J. Pan a , J.L. Chen a , Q.X. Zhang a a State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, PR China b Department of Environment Science, Jiangsu Broadcasting & Television University, Nanjing 210013, PR China Received 26 April 2004; received in revised form 14 September 2004; accepted 26 October 2004 Available online 3 March 2005 Abstract Adsorption of phenolic compounds from aqueous solution to a macroporous polymeric adsorbent (CHA-111), its animated derivative (MCH-111) and a reference weakly anion exchanger (ND-900) was studied. Experimental results indicated that amino functional groups on the polymeric matrix play an important role in phenol adsorption by MCH-111 and ND-900, which was attributed to the formation of hydrogen bonding between the phenol molecule and the amino group on the polymeric matrix. The semi-empirical Freundlich isotherm equation and its reduced form were employed to interpret the adsorption behavior. A site energy distribution model based on the Polanyi adsorption potential theory can elucidate the adsorption mechanism reasonably. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Phenolic compounds; Adsorption isotherm; Polymeric adsorbent; Amination; Site energy distribution 1. Introduction Phenolic compounds are commonly encountered organic contaminants in environmental systems [1]. Effective treat- ment of industrial wastewater containing these chemicals should be required before discharge into the receiving water body [2–7]. Adsorption of phenolic compounds on activated carbon and various oxidation processes have been considered as a potential treatment technique [8], and adsorption of phe- nols and other weak electrolytes on activated carbon has been discussed elsewhere [9–12]. In recent years, polymeric ad- sorbents have been increasingly regarded as an alternative to activated carbon due to their feasible adsorption–regeneration properties and perfect mechanical intensity. A macroporous hypercrosslinked polymer CHA-111 was reported to be ideal for removing phenols and other compounds from aque- ous solution [13,14]. Since the invention of the hyper- ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 25 3326433; fax: +86 25 3707304. E-mail address: bcpan@nju.edu.cn (B.C. Pan). crosslinked polymeric adsorbent by Danvakov and Tsyurupa [15,16], it has achieved wide applications in many fields such as separation and analysis because of its unique ad- sorption properties including ideal pore structure and var- ious surface functional groups available. These functional groups introduced to the polymer matrix are able to mod- ify the surface chemistry of the adsorbent allowing specific adsorbent–adsorbate interactions and then to improve adsorp- tion behavior of organic compounds [7,17]. Specifically, re- search has focused on surface chemical modification by in- troducing acetyl and o-carboxybenzoyl groups [18], benzoyl and hydroxymethyl functionalities [19] onto the polymeric matrix. The current study was aimed at chemical modification of CHA-111 by amination reaction to improve the adsorp- tion behavior for phenolic compounds. Adsorption isotherms were analyzed using the semi-empirical Freundlich model and its reduced form. A site energy distribution model based on the Polanyi adsorption potential theory was employed to describe the adsorption behavior on polymeric adsorbents. 0304-3894/$ – see front matter © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2004.10.027