Removal of uranium anionic species from aqueous solutions by polyethylenimine–epichlorohydrin resins

Abstract

The removal of uranium anionic species from aqueous solutions (initial concentration: 10–2,000 mg/L) by a low- and a high molecular weight polyethylenimine–epichlorohydrin resins was studied in the absence of background electrolytes at initial pH (pHinit) 8 to10. The amount of the sorbed U was determined spectrophotometrically using the Arsenazo III method. The maximum uptake was observed at pHinit 8 using both resins. The maximum uptake capacity observed was 221 and 388 mg U/g for the low- and high molecular weight resin respectively. The uptake data were modeled using a number of 2- and 3- parametric isotherm equations (Langmuir, Freundlich, Langmuir–Freundlich, Toth and Redlich–Peterson). The kinetics of the uranium removal was also studied and modeled using the pseudo-first and pseudo-second order equations. The surface and interior of the resin grains were examined after the sorption experiments by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy.