Magnetic alginate supported potassium manganese ferrocyanide for the recovery of uranium from acidic wastewater

Abstract

With the rapid development of the atomic energy industry, the demand for nuclear fuel has risen, while the limited resources of uranium mines make it difficult to meet the needs of the future development of nuclear energy. Expanding sources of uranium acquisition is necessary, and the enrichment and recovery of precious uranium from uranium-containing wastewater is invaluable. By synthesizing alginate supported potassium manganese ferrocyanide nanocomposites with magnetic response (KMnFC/MA/Fe3O4), the high efficiency adsorption and separation of uranium in acidic uranium-containing wastewater can be realized conveniently and quickly. The magnetic composite was characterized by a variety of technical means, and the adsorption behavior of the magnetic material on uranium was studied by static adsorption experiments under different environmental conditions. The adsorption kinetics and isotherm of uranium by KMnFC/MA/Fe3O4 were studied by using some common linear adsorption models. The results show that the adsorption rate of KMnFC/MA/Fe3O4 on uranium is fast, and the adsorption equilibrium can be reached within 90 min. The adsorption process conforms to a pseudo-secondary kinetic model and is dominated by chemisorption. The adsorption of uranium by KMnFC/MA/Fe3O4 magnetic material is single molecular layer adsorption, and the maximum adsorption capacity is 425.5 mg g−1 at 35 °C. KMnFC/MA/Fe3O4 is a promising adsorbent in the field of acidic low-concentration uranium wastewater treatment because of its good effect on the treatment of low concentration uranium wastewater, the concentration of uranium in the wastewater reaches the emission standard after treatment and it is easy to be separated magnetically after adsorption.