Amazing selectivity for Am(iii) uptake by composite graphene oxide-PES polymeric beads prepared by phase inversion

Novel polyethersulphone (PES) based polymeric beads containing graphene oxide (GO), prepared by a phase inversion technique for the first time, were evaluated for actinide ion uptake from acidic feed solutions. The actinide ions studied were Am, Pu, Th, UO2 2+ while Eu was taken as a representative trivalent lanthanide ion. The feeds used for the uptake studies were unbuffered aqueous pH solutions and the observed trend was: Am Eu [ UO2 Th > Pu. The results were highly encouraging as Am uptake was very high at pH 5 suggesting that the GO beads can be used for the remediation of low acidic radioactive effluents containing Am ions. The metal sorption capacity for Am(III) at pH 4.0 was found to be 1.22 0.07 mg g 1 of the GO resin whereas the qmax (the maximum predicted sorption capacity) obtained from the Langmuir isotherm was 1.72 0.07 mg g 1 of the GO resin. The sorption isotherm analysis was done by fitting the batch uptake data to the Langmuir, D–R and Freundlisch models. Column studies carried out with the GO-PES beads showed a breakthrough of Am(III) beyond 4 mL. Elution profiles were obtained using 0.1 M HNO3 and about 20 mL was required for quantitative elution.