Adsorption of uranium (Ⅵ) by activated carbon from radioactive wastewater

YU Jing; WANG Jianlong; JIANG Yizhou

doi:10.16511/j.cnki.qhdxxb.2016.21.022

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Journal of Tsinghua University(Science and Technology) ›› 2016, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (3) : 312-317. DOI: 10.16511/j.cnki.qhdxxb.2016.21.022

NUCLEAR AND NEW ENERGY ENGINEERING

Adsorption of uranium (Ⅵ) by activated carbon from radioactive wastewater

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Abstract

The adsorption of uranium from wastewater onto activated carbon was investigated in batch experiments. Four independent variables, the contact time, solution pH_a, initial uranium concentration and temperature, were varied to determine the influence of these parameters on the adsorption of the uranium from water. The activated carbon size were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), with the element content characterized by energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) and surface functional groups characterized by infrared spectrocopy (FTIR). The FTIR spectra indicated that hydroxyl groups are present on the surface of the activated carbon and affected the adsorption. The U(Ⅵ) adsorption onto activated carbon reached sorption equilibrium within 30 min. The adsorption of U(Ⅵ) on activated carbon was strongly dependent on the pH_a in the range of 3.0~9.0. The adsorption capacity and removal percent increase for pH_a from 3 to 5, decrease for pH_a=5~7, and then increase quickly for pH_a=7~9. The U(Ⅵ) adsorption on activated carbon is well described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Tempkin, Slip, and D-R isotherm models. The sorption reaction is spontaneous, exothermic and increases the entropy. The maxmium adsorption capacity is 62.50 mg·g^-1. The maxmium removal rate is 99.23%.

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activated carbon / U(Ⅵ) / adsorption / radioactive wastewater

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YU Jing, WANG Jianlong, JIANG Yizhou. Adsorption of uranium (Ⅵ) by activated carbon from radioactive wastewater[J]. Journal of Tsinghua University(Science and Technology). 2016, 56(3): 312-317 https://doi.org/10.16511/j.cnki.qhdxxb.2016.21.022

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