Synthesis of ZrTiVPO4 Embedded Calcium Alginate Beads for Efficient Sorption of 152+154Eu, 133Ba, and 134 Cs from Liquid Radioactive Waste Effluents: A Comprehensive Study

Abstract

The present work demonstrates a comprehensive study for efficiently removing some hazardous radionuclides from liquid radioactive waste using zirconium titanium vanadium phosphate/alginate (ZrTiVPO₄/Alg) composite. A composite material of (ZrTiVPO₄/Alg) was synthesized by the sol–gel technique and subsequently examined utilizing FT-IR, SEM, XRD, EDX, BET surface area, and TGA analyses. (ZrTiVPO₄/Alg) composite beads were tested for sorption of ^152+154Eu, ¹³³Ba, and ¹³⁴Cs from radioactive liquid waste. Various parameters influencing the sorption of ^152+154Eu, ¹³³Ba, and ¹³⁴Cs have been investigated, such as the contact time, pH value, temperature, and initial concentration. The highest percent removal was achieved at pH 4 for ^152+154Eu and pH 6 for ¹³³Ba, and ¹³⁴Cs. The equilibrium time for the sorption process was attained at 90 min. An investigation was conducted on the isotherms and kinetics of ZrTiVPO₄/Alg sorption of ^152+154Eu, ¹³³Ba, and ¹³⁴Cs. The Freundlich isotherm model provides a better fit (R² = 0.988) than the Langmuir model (R² = 0.967), suggesting a multilayer adsorption process on the ZrTiVPO₄/Alg composite surface with a maximum adsorption capacity (Q_max) 30.3, 29.4, and 21.6 mg/g for ^152+154Eu, ¹³³Ba, and ¹³⁴Cs respectively. Moreover, the adsorption kinetics studies indicate that the process follows the pseudo-second-order model. Finally, a chromatographic column study has been carried out to confirm the findings obtained from the batch experiments. The column analysis revealed that the breakthrough capacities for ^152+154Eu, ¹³³Ba, and ¹³⁴Cs are as follows: 23, 19, and 12 mg/g, respectively.