Decontamination of Uranium-Polluted Groundwater by Sawdust-Activated Carbon

What is it about?

The preparation of highly efficient and low-cost activated carbon from sawdust was achieved for the treatment of uranium-contaminated groundwater. The adsorption properties of the synthesized activated carbon, as well as their ability to be reused, were assessed. The obtained results demonstrated that sawdust activated carbon (SDAC) and its amine form (SDACA) had high affinity towards uranium ions at pH values of 4.5 and 5 for SDAC and SDACA, respectively. The experimental results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity of uranium was 57.34 and 76.7 mg/g for SDAC and SDACA, respectively. A maximum removal efficiency of 89.72% by SDAC and 99.55% by SDACA were obtained at a solid/liquid ratio of 8 mg/mL. The removal mechanism of uranium by SDAC and SDACA was suggested due to interaction with the amine and carboxylic groups. The validation of the method was verified through uranium separation from synthetic as well as from groundwater collected from water wells in the Wadi Naseib area, Southwestern Sinai, Egypt.

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Why is it important?

The present work demonstrates that SDAC and SDACA have a high sorption capacity for uranium and can be successively used for the fast removal of U(VI) ions from aqueous solutions. On the one hand, the monolayer sorption was the favored mechanism for both the used adsorbents. On the other hand, the sorption process revealed its endothermic nature. Finally, this study verified amino-activated carbon as a highly efficient and low-cost adsorbent that can be widely used in the treatment of polluted water systems, for either radioactive elements or some heavy metals.

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