Evaluation of chitin and chitosan as a sorbent for the preconcentration ofphenol and chlorophenols in water

The evaluation of the applicability of chitin and chitosan as a sorbent mat erial to solid phase extraction of phenol and chlorophenols was made by usi ng high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). For the measurement of th e adsorptive capabilities, adsorption isotherms as well as breakthrough cur ves were obtained by means of batch experiments or column experiments respe ctively. The increasing tendency of the amount of adsorption with the numbe r of chlorine atom in phenol molecules was observed for both chitin and chi tosan. The driving force of the interaction could be attributed to hydrogen bonding among electro-negative atoms in chitin, chitosan or chlorophenols.