Abstract
Nano goethite was synthesized via chemical precipitation, characterized, and utilized in batch adsorption of uranium (VI) in aqueous solution. This study aims to investigate whether a synthetic goethite could extract uranium (VI) from aqueous solutions, and to study the adsorption isotherm models. In this work, goethite (α-FeOOH) was synthesized using Atkinson et al.'s approach, which was utilized as an adsorbent. It was essential to characterize this adsorbent material. The prepared material was characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Investigation and optimization have been done on different factors that may influence uranium (VI) adsorption, such as pH, initial ion concentration, and adsorbent amount. The ideal parameters that were found were then applied to actual effluents that contained uranium (VI). The results demonstrated that more than 95% of the uranium (VI) was removed. Utilizing the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin models, the data shows strong agreement with the three models. According to the Langmuir isotherm model, the highest sorption capacity of goethite was 33.3 mg/g, the Langmuir constant was -7.77 L/mg, and the separation factor was 1.29x10-3. The Freundlich constant was found to be 28.31 (mg/g)*(L/mg)1/n, and the adsorption intensity was 2.09. The was also in agreement with the Temkin model, which shows the bT equals 68.75 joules/mol and the KT equals 3.89 L/mg. The correlation constants were in the order of 0.982 > 0.961 > 0.872 for Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin, respectively, explaining that the three models show favorable fittings.