Adsorption of Imazalil herbicide onto Moroccan agricultural soils: Kinetic and isotherm adsorption studies

Imazalil herbicide [1-[2-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-2-prop-2-enoxyethyl] imidazole] belongs to the Enilconazole family of herbicides, this compound is largely utilized on agricultural field crops in Morocco. Soil properties greatly improve the adsorption of this chemical compound in soils, but there is a need to understand their effect on said soils. This current study evaluates the adsorption behavior of Imazalil using four agricultural soils from Morocco in batch systems and examines the impact of contact time and initial Imazalil concentration. The physico-chemical properties of soils were characterized by several analytical methods. The equilibrium isotherms of Imazalil removal by Moroccan soils were studied using batch tests. The obtained data revealed that the adsorbed amount of pollutant increases with the increasing the organic matter and organic carbon contents in soils. The adsorption kinetic process of different soils followed the pseudo second order kinetic model, and the adsorption mechanism of herbicide using different soils was controlled by intraparticle diffusion model. Isotherm adsorption experiments of Imazalil on four agricultural soils indicated that adsorption was best fitted by the Langmuir and Freundlich models. Our data suggest potential for reduced transfer of Imazalil from agricultural soils to groundwater in Morocco.