Carbonate effects on hexavalent uranium removal from water by nanocrystalline titanium dioxide

A novel nanocrystalline titanium dioxide was used to treat depleted uranium (DU)-contaminated water under neutral and alkaline conditions. The novel material had a total surface area of 329 m2/g, total surface site density of 11.0 sites/nm2, total pore volume of 0.415 cm3/g and crystallite size of 6.0 nm. It was used in batch tests to remove U(VI) from synthetic solutions and contaminated water. However, the capacity of the nanocrystalline titanium dioxide to remove U(VI) from water decreased in the presence of inorganic carbonate at pH > 6.0. Adsorption isotherms, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and surface charge measurements were used to investigate the causes of the reduced capacity. The surface charge and the FTIR measurements suggested that the adsorbed U(VI) species was not complexed with carbonate at neutral pH values. The decreased capacity of titanium dioxide to remove U(VI) from water in the presence of carbonate at neutral to alkaline pH values was attributed to the aqueous complexation of U(VI) by inorganic carbonate. The nanocrystalline titanium dioxide had four times the capacity of commercially available titanium dixoide (Degussa P-25) to adsorb U(VI) from water at pH 6 and total inorganic carbonate concentration of 0.01 M. Consequently, the novel material was used to treat DU-contaminated water at a Department of Defense (DOD) site.