Removal of Uranium(VI) from Aqueous Solution by Dry Chitosan Powder

This study investigated the likelihood of chitosan powder as a novel type of adsorbent, for U(VI) removal from wastewater. Batch experiments were performed to explore the effect of pH, sorption time, sorption temperature, chitosan dosage on U(VI) adsorption to chitosan powder. The results suggest that the accumulation process was highly pH dependent with pH changing from 2.0 to 7.0. An initial solution pH of 5.0 was most favorable for removal. Over the temperature range from 20 degrees C to 70 degrees C, 30 degrees C was the optimum temperature for the U(VI) adsorption. The U(VI) uptake was rapid within 30 min and equilibrium was reached at 60 min. The U(VI) removal efficiency increased concomitantly with increasing chitosan dosage, while the adsorption capacity decreased. The chitosan had an observed U(VI) adsorption capacity of ca. 175 mg/g dry weight of chitosan. The present results implied that chitosan can be used as a sorbent for an effective removal of U(VI) from wastewater.