Adsorption of naphthalene onto loess soil of Northwestern China

The naphthalene adsorption onto loess soil was studied by batch experiments, including isotherm, impact factors, and kinetics. The results indicated that (1) adsorption equilibrium conformed best to the Freundlich isotherm. (2) Loess had the best adsorption capacity for naphthalene at pH 5. (3) The ionic strength had little effect on the adsorption equilibrium in the range adopted in the experiments. (4) In the temperature range from 10°C to 30°C, the equilibrium adsorption amount had a positive correlation with the temperature. (5) The adsorption process of naphthalene to loess conformed best to third-order kinetics, and the analysis of the correlation between adsorption rate constants and temperatures indicated that naphthalene adsorption to loess was an easy, heat intake process.