Uranium(VI) adsorption on montmorillonite colloid

Abstract

Montmorillonite colloid was synthesized and characterized and the adsorption of U(VI) on colloid as a function of contact time, temperature, initial concentration of U(VI) solution, pH and foreign ions was investigated through batch experiments. The results illustrate that the adsorption reaches equilibrium quickly within 30 mins. Results showed that the absorption process is influenced by pH value, temperature and ions, among which pH value is the most significant. Adsorption percentage increases obviously at pH = 4.0–7.0, and then decreases with the increase of pH value. The competitive cations also inhibit the adsorption. pH value and ions affect the surface properties and charges of the colloid and the chemical form of nuclides. The experimental data was analyzed in detail. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained by fitting the second-order kinetic model is very close to the experimental data. The Langmuir model fits the experimental data better than Freundlich models, R2 = 0.991. The results of fitting two adsorption isotherms show that the adsorption of colloids on uranium has both physical and chemical adsorption, and is mainly monolayer adsorption. Furthermore, the adsorption process is a spontaneous endothermic reaction by calculating the thermodynamic parameters. This experiment can provide some data basis for the adsorption study of U(VI) on colloids.