CeO2–TiFe2O4 nanocomposite for effective removal of uranium ions from aqueous waste solutions

Abstract

The present work deals with the preparation of Cerium oxide Titanium Ferrite (CTF) nanocomposite using a simple solvothermal method. The synthesized CTF nanocomposites were characterized using FT-IR, XRD, BET surface area, VSM and TEM. The adsorption action of CTF nanocomposite towards U(VI) was optimized using batch experiments by varying solution pH, initial concentration, sorbent dosage and rate of adsorption. The loaded uranium was efficiently desorbed using 0.1 M HNO3. The Kinetic studies indicated that the adsorption process follows pseudo-second-order equation. Freundlich and Halsey adsorption isotherm was modeled, it proves the multilayers adsorption process. The calculated thermodynamic parameters show that the adsorption process of U(VI) onto CTF nanocomposite was spontaneous and endothermic in nature. The fabricated nanocomposite was applied successfully for removal of uranium species from waste solutions. The obtained results indicated that CTF nanocomposite was a promising and excellent adsorbent for uranium ions removal in comparison with other reported ones. Moreover, the process was very simple, fast and easily reusable several times.