Effective and selective adsorption of uranyl ions by porous polyethylenimine-functionalized carboxylated chitosan/oxidized activated charcoal composite

Abstract

Composite materials have elicited much interest because of their superior performance in the removal of toxic and radioactive uranyl ions from aqueous solutions. With polyethyleneimine as a functional group, carboxylated chitosan as a matrix, and oxidizing activated carbon as a nanofiller, this study synthesized a novel environment-friendly polyethylenimine-functionalized carboxylated chitosan/oxidized activated charcoal (PCO) biocomposite with a unique three-dimensional porous structure. PCO was synthesized through an easy chemical cross-linking method. Detailed characterization certified the formation of the unique three-dimensional porous structure. The obtained PCO was used to remove uranyl ions from an aqueous solution, demonstrating the maximum adsorption capacity of 450 mg·g⁻¹. The adsorption capacity of PCO decreased by less than 7.51% after five adsorption-desorption cycles. PCO exhibited good adsorption selectivity (K_d = 3.45 × 10⁴ mL·g⁻¹) for uranyl ions. The adsorption mechanism of PCO was also discussed. The material showed good potential for application in the treatment of wastewater containing uranyl ions.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

polyethylenimine / carboxylated chitosan / activated charcoal / uranyl ion / adsorption

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the basic research project of Sichuan Province for Science and Technology Development (Grant No. 2019YJ0355), Outstanding Youth Science and Technology Talents Program of Sichuan (Grant No. 19JCQN0085), Key Projects of the Pre-research Fund of the General Armament Department (Grant No. 6140720020101) and National Defense Technology Foundation Project (Grant No. JSJL2016404B002).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11705-021-2054-x and is accessible for authorized users.

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