Adsorption behaviour of clomazone on inorganic and organically modified natural montmorillonite from Bogovina (Serbia)

Abstract The adsorption behaviour of the herbicide clomazone on inorganic and organically modified montmorillonite from the Bogovina deposit in Serbia was investigated. Montmorillonite was modified first with NaCl and then with organic complexes such as hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMA) and phenyltrimethylammonium chloride (PTMA). Changes in the surface properties and morphology of the montmorillonite before and after the modification with various concentrations of organic complexes were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Adsorption of clomazone on all examined samples was investigated using the batch adsorption method. Montmorillonite modified with HDTMA-bromide displayed greater uptake of the clomazone compared to the PTMA-montmorillonite, and both organically modified montmorillonites displayed greater uptake of the herbicide compared to the inorganic montmorillonite. Comparing the Freundlich coefficient and maximum adsorbed clomazone quantity values obtained by Langmuir model, the levels of adsorption of clomazone decreased in the following order: HDTMA-montmorillonite with 1.00 cation-exchange capacity (CEC) saturation > HDTMA-montmorillonite with 0.75 CEC saturation > PTMA-montmorillonite with 1.00 CEC saturation > PTMA-montmorillonite with 0.75 CEC saturation > HDTMA-montmorillonite with 0.50 CEC saturation > HDTMA-montmorillonite with 0.25 CEC saturation > PTMA-montmorillonite with 0.50 CEC saturation > PTMA-montmorillonite with 0.25 CEC saturation > Na-montmorillonite > raw sample. The type and content of an organic cation plays an important role in the behaviour of clomazone in a solid/liquid system. It is concluded that organically modified montmorillonite from Bogovina might be used as an effective adsorbent for clomazone.