Facile fabrication of new bioadsorbents from Moringa oleifera and alginate for efficient removal of uranium(VI)

This article presents the first study on the use of alginate and moringa as an effective adsorbent for uranium treatment under various conditions. A new method of preparing adsorbents was used by adding Moringa oleifera seeds (MOS) to alginate through simple grafting. The resulting beads have a heterogeneous, sponge-like structure that is reversible. The adsorbents were tested for their ability to remove uranium ions from water and showed excellent efficiency with an adsorption capacity of 443.60 mg/g for alginate-PEI-MOS and 341.38 mg/g for alginate-Glu-MOS. Additionally, these adsorbents showed an interesting rate of swelling in water and uranium solution. The results of isotherm, and kinetic models indicate that the adsorption is monolayer, followed by multilayer adsorption after a certain concentration range with mixed adsorption (physical and chemical). Therefore, MOS could be a useful tool for adsorbing uranium from water and real wastewater.