ANALYSIS OF PHENOLS ADSORPTION ON A NONPO LAR POLYMERIC RESIN

This work is related with a study of phenols adsorption from an aqueou s solution on a polymeric resin. Mainly, it has been considered the qu antification, evaluation and correlation of the experimental results f rom solutes distribution between both equilibrium phases. It has been used a macroreticular nonpolar adsorbing resin, Amberlite XAD-4 from R ohm and Haas. The study has been carried out with synthetic solutions of single component: ortho, metha, para-cresol and phenol. Adsorption results have been analyzed based on the more used isotherms and it has been found that models that consider energetic or adsorption heteroge neity give better results. Cresols are easier to retain due to the pre sence of methyl group that remarks the hydrophobic character of the ph enol aromatic ring. It has been studied the effect on the adsorption f rom aqueous solutions, ionic strength and pH of solutions, and it has been found the basic relations that let quantify their influence.