Improved performance of a biomaterial-based cation exchanger for the adsorption of uranium(VI) from water and nuclear industry wastewater.
Anirudhan TS, Radhakrishnan PG.
Department of Chemistry, University of Kerala, Kariavattom, Trivandrum 695 581, Kerala, India.
The amine-modified polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate (poly(HEMA))-grafted biomaterial (tamarind fruit shell, TFS) carrying carboxyl functional groups at the chain end (PGTFS-COOH) was prepared and used as an adsorbent for the removal of uranium(VI) from water and nuclear industry wastewater. FTIR spectral analysis revealed that U(VI) ions and PGTFS-COOH formed a chelate complex. The adsorption process was relatively fast, requiring only 120min to attain equilibrium. The adsorption kinetic data were best described by the pseudo-second-order equation. The equilibrium adsorption data were correlated with the Sips isotherm model. The maximum U(VI) ions uptake with PGTFS-COOH was estimated to be 100.79mg/g. The complete removal of 10mg/L U(VI) from simulated nuclear industry wastewater was achieved by 3.5g/L PGTFS-COOH. The reusability of the adsorbent was demonstrated over 4 cycles using NaCl (1.0M)+HCl (0.5M) solution mixture to de-extract the U(VI). The results show that the PGTFS-COOH tested is very promising for the recovery of U(VI) from water and wastewater.
PMID: 19168265 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
