Preconcentration of phenols by adsorption on organo-clay followed by capillary electrophoretic determination

The organo-clay adsorbent used was prepared by modification of montmorillonite from Kurşunlu, Turkey with the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethlyammonium bromide. The modification process involves replacing the inorganic exchange cations of the clay by organic cations containing long chain alkyl groups. The retention of phenolic compounds from aqueous solution on the organo-clay was studied. The analytes are quantitatively retained on the proposed adsorbent at pH 7 and recovered by elution with ethanol. The determination of phenols was performed by capillary electrophoresis. Received: 28 July 1997 / Revised: 15 December 1997 / Accepted: 8 January 1998