Kinetic, equilibrium and thermodynamic studies on sorption of uranium and thorium from aqueous solutions by a selective impregnated resin containing carminic acid

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials 2015-04, Vol.286, p.152-163
• Main Authors: Rahmani-Sani, Abolfazl, Hosseini-Bandegharaei, Ahmad, Hosseini, Seyyed-Hossein, Kharghani, Keivan, Zarei, Hossein, Rastegar, Ayoob
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption; Amberlite XAD-16; Carmine - chemistry; Carminic acid; Chemistry, Physical; Diffusion; Extractant-impregnated resin; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Ions; Kinetics; Metals - chemistry; Polymers - chemistry; Sorption; Thermodynamics; Thorium - chemistry; U(VI) and Th(IV) ions; Uranium - chemistry; Water Pollutants - analysis; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Purification - methods
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.12.047

•The objective of the study is to investigate the potential application of a selective EIR for sorption of U(VI) and Th(IV) ions.•The effects of several physiochemical parameters were investigated.•The sorption kinetics and sorption isotherms were used to explain the sorption mechanism.•The thermodynamic studies showed the feasibility of sorption process.•The EIR beads showed a great potential for effective removal of U(VI) and Th(IV) ions. In this work, the removal of uranium and thorium ions from aqueous solutions was studied by solid–liquid extraction using an advantageous extractant-impregnated resin (EIR) prepared by loading carminic acid (CA) onto Amberlite XAD-16 resin beads. Batch sorption experiments using CA/XAD-16 beads for the removal of U(VI) and Th(IV) ions were carried out as a function of several parameters, like equilibration time, metal ion concentration, etc. The equilibrium data obtained from the sorption experiments were adjusted to the Langmuir isotherm model and the calculated maximum sorption capacities in terms of monolayer sorption were in agreement with those obtained from the experiments. The experimental data on the sorption behavior of both metal ions onto the EIR beads fitted well in both Bangham and intra-particle diffusion kinetic models, indicating that the intra-particle diffusion is the rate-controlling step. The thermodynamic studies at different temperatures revealed the feasibility and the spontaneous nature of the sorption process for both uranium and thorium ions.