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Effect of pH, fulvic acid and temperature on the sorption of uranyl on ZrP2O7

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Abstract

The sorption of UO 2+2 onto ZrP2O7 was studied using the batch technique and the point of zero charge of ZrP2O7 was obtained through mass titration. The results indicated that sorption of UO 2+2 onto ZrP2O7 was strongly affected by pH, solid-to-liquid ratio (m/V), the species of electrolyte in solution and fulvic acid (FA), but was insensitive to ionic strength. The sorption of UO 2+2 increased with increasing pH and m/V. The presence of FA enhanced UO 2+2 sorption onto ZrP2O7 at low pH. The presence of phosphate or sulfate caused opposite effects on the sorption of UO 2+2 onto ZrP2O7. Addition of citrate also significantly affected UO 2+2 sorption. The sorption of UO 2+2 increased as the temperature of the system increased. The Langmuir and Freundlich models were used to simulate the sorption isotherms of UO 2+2 onto ZrP2O7 at different temperatures. The results indicated that the Freundlich model described UO 2+2 sorption better than the Langmuir model. Thermodynamic parameters for the sorption process were calculated from the temperature dependent sorption isotherms. The results suggested that the sorption process of UO 2+2 onto ZrP2O7 is spontaneous and endothermic. The desorption process of UO 2+2 from ZrP2O7 was also investigated and it was found that sorption onto ZrP2O7 was irreversible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radiochemistry Laboratory, School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 73000, China

    LiJuan Qian, PeiZhuo Hu, ZhenJiang Jiang, YanXia Geng & WangSuo Wu

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  1. LiJuan Qian
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  2. PeiZhuo Hu
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Correspondence to WangSuo Wu.

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Qian, L., Hu, P., Jiang, Z. et al. Effect of pH, fulvic acid and temperature on the sorption of uranyl on ZrP2O7 . Sci. China Chem. 53, 1429–1437 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-010-3189-7

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