Stability of a natural palygorskite after a cycle of adsorption-desorption of an emerging pollutant

Abstract

In this paper, we evaluate the structural stability of a natural Cuban clay (an adsorbent of organic pollutants) after an adsorption-desorption process. The clay under study was palygorskite, and sulfamethoxazole was the emerging contaminant. The materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy and zeta potential before and after the sulfamethoxazole adsorption-desorption processes. Based on the material integrity, the potentiality of Pal as pollutant adsorbent and its possible reuse in adsorption-desorption cycles was demonstrated.