Sorption of cesium from aqueous solutions by some Egyptian pottery materials

Removal of Cs(I) from aqueous solutions using low-cost adsorbents such as Egyptian pottery materials under different experimental conditions was investigated. Three kinds of pottery, in addition to their raw materials were tested. Instrumental characterizations of the Egyptian pottery materials were performed by different techniques such as XRF and XRD. The effects of pH, initial metal concentration, shaking time, adsorbent weight and temperature on the removal of Cs(I) from aqueous solutions by the pottery materials were studied. The results indicated that the optimum pH for the removal of Cs(I) was found to be 7.0 for all types of pottery materials. The present study suggested raw pottery materials to be potentially low cost sorbent for the removal of Cs+ ions from aqueous solutions more than fired pottery materials.