Adsorption of uranium from crude phosphoric acid using activated carbon

Abstract

The adsorption of uranium from crude phosphoric acid has been investigated using conventional activated carbons. It was found that treatment with nitric acid oxidized the surface of activated carbon and significantly increased the adsorption capacity for uranium in acidic solutions. The parameters that affect the uranium(VI) adsorption, such as contact time, solution pH, initial uranium(VI) concentration, and temperature, have been investigated. Equilibrium data were fitted to a simplified Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms for the oxidized samples which indicate that the uranium adsorption onto the activated carbon fitted well with Langmuir isotherm than Freundlich isotherm. Equilibrium studies evaluate the theoretical capacity of activated carbon to be 45.24 g kg−1.