China Nonferrous Metallurgy

Currently, adsorption method is commonly employed for the removal of uranium from uranium-containing solutions, and iron-based phosphate adsorbents have been proven to be an ideal choice for capturing U(Ⅵ). In this study, an amorphous material containing iron-phosphorus groups, FeP-ANM, was prepared using the hydrothermal method. Static experiments, adsorption model fitting, and characterization techniques were employed to investigate the removal of U(Ⅵ) from uranium-containing solutions by FeP-ANM. The following main conclusions were obtained. Under the conditions of room temperature, initial U(Ⅵ) concentration of 10 mg/L, adsorption time of 60min, initial pH of 4.5, and adsorbent dosage of 0.1g/L, FeP-ANM achieved a U(Ⅵ) removal rate of 97.98% in the solution, and it has strong anti-interference ability. Furthermore, after five cycles of testing, the U(Ⅵ) removal rate remained above 80%. The fitting results of the adsorption model of FeP-ANM on U(Ⅵ) indicated that the adsorption process was primarily a monomolecular layer of chemical adsorption, with a fitted maximum adsorption capacity of 224.91mg/g and the adsorption process was endothermic; microscopic characterization by SEM, EDS, XRD, and XPS indicated that the mechanism of U(Ⅵ) removal from solution by FeP-ANM primarily involved the complexation of —OH, CO^2-₃, and PO^3-₄ ions, as well as the reduction of Fe²⁺. The research results indicated that FeP-ANM could efficiently remove U(Ⅵ) from solution, and this material has a simple preparation method, high efficiency, and good application prospects in the purification of uranium-containing wastewater.