Removal of phenols and chlorophenols from aquatic system using magnetical modified yeast

Phenols and chlorophenols are toxic to other organisms in aqueous media even at very low concentrations. This study deals with the removal of phenols and chlorophenols from the aqueous media in a batch system by the use of magnetical modified yeast. The equilibrium time of the adsorption of phenols and chlorophenols, the effect of the initial concentration upon the adsorption rate, the effect of the pH and the possibility of regeneration have been examined. The amount of adsorption on to yeast was observed to increase in the order of phenol, 3-chlorophenol, 4-chlorophenol and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol and the maximum adsorption equilibrium time was found to be approximately 45 minutes. Apart from those the possibility of regenerating the used yeast samples with the use of 30 % (v/v) methanol solution. Magnetical modified yeast is suitable for reuse for more than five cycles without noticeable loss of adsorption capacity.The adsorption studies carried out between 15oC, 25oC and 35oC suspension temperatures revealed that the adsorption values showed a decrease with the increasing temperature.Magnetical modified yeast was examined by the use of FT-IR, SEM, EDX and DTA-TGA analysis techniques before and after the adsorption process. Also the effect of the initial phenol and chlorophenols concentration on the removal efficiency and the related adsorption isotherms was investigated. The adsorption was observed to take place according to the Langmuir isotherm.