Efficient Removal of Ce(III) and Eu(III) Ions from Aqueous Solutions by Local Clay -A Radiotracer Study

Abstract

Radiotracer technique has been used to study the removal behavior of Ce(III) and Eu(III) ions from aqueous solutions by local clay. Adsorptive concentration (10-4–10-6mol dm-3), pH (ca2.0-9.0) and temperature (303-333 K) were examined for assessing optimal conditions for removal of these ions. The adsorption phenomenon was highly dependent on the amount of the adsorbent concentrations. The uptake of ions, which fitted well for Freundlich isotherm, increased with increase in the temperature and no significant desorption took place in the studied temperature range. The energy of adsorption process for the both cations indicates that the adsorption phenomenon is of chemisorption type. The rate kinetics of the adsorption followed the first order rate kinetics.