An alternative evaluation method for accumulated dead leaves of Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile on the beaches: removal of uranium from aqueous solutions

Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile is an important endemic sea plant in the Mediterranean Sea. Its dead leaves are accumulated in the beaches and cause bad view and also odour in the touristical beaches. Therefore, these dead leaves accumulated on the beaches are collected and then burned in some beaches in Turkey. In the present study, the adsorption between dead leaves and uranium were studied in the aqueous solutions. The adsorption data obeyed the pseudo-second order kinetics. Among the studied isotherms, the data were well in line with the Freundlich and Dubinin-Raduschkevich models and the maximum adsorption capacities obtained from these models were found as 5.67 and 9.81 mg g(-1), respectively. Negative values of Gibbs free energy showed that the adsorption was in spontaneous nature. In conclusion, the dead leaves of P. oceanica from touristic beaches might be collected and evaluated as a low-cost adsorbent for removal of uranium(VI) from aqueous solutions.