Synthesis and application of an analogue of mesolite for the removal of uranium(VI), thorium(IV), and europium(III) from aqueous waste

This work has been carried to investigate the sorption behavior of self synthesized analogue of mesolite, with respect to U(VI), Th(IV), and Eu(III), in order to consider its application for nuclear waste water treatment. The sorption experiments were performed under batch process with metal ion concentration, amount of mesolite, pH, time and temperature as variables. This paper also presents the experimental results concerning monolayer and multilayer sorption isotherm of metal ion on self synthesized mesolite analogue. The experimental results fit well in the Langmuir and Freundlich sorption isotherm models. These isotherms were found to be linear over the entire concentration range at different temperature studied with extremely high correlation coefficient values. The thermodynamic parameters: the enthalpy change, entropy change, and Gibbs free energy change for sorption process are in the range 10–35 kJ mol−1, 41–58 J mol−1 K−1, and −2 to −5 kJ mol−1, respectively. Desorption studies of metal ions have been carried out with a view to find out whether the metal ion sorbed by the exchanger is retained in the matrix for a sufficiently long period or it leached out from the matrix. Thus, the results reveal that the metal ions remain in the matrix of the sorbent for a longer period as no desorption of metal ions is observed with ground water. These studies present the suitability of mesolite for the removal of these selected radionuclides from aqueous waste. Apart from these studies, this paper also gives a detail description of mesolite synthesis and characterization.