Cesium adsorption ability of charcoal made from Japanese cedar and Japanese oak wood: effect of Fe3+-addition to starting materials

Abstract

To investigate the effect of Fe-addition on the Cs⁺-adsorption ability (Cs⁺-AA) of woody charcoal, charcoal samples were prepared from Japanese cedar (JC) and Japanese oak (JO) wood impregnated with Fe³⁺ at 600 and 800 °C. The residual functional groups of the charcoal samples were examined using infrared-photoacoustic spectroscopy. OH groups were observed in the charcoal made at 600 °C, and no vibrational bands were detectable in the charcoal synthesized at 800 °C. The observation of Raman D-, G-, and G´-bands revealed that all charcoal samples contained sp²-carbon atoms but graphitization occurred only in the iron-loaded charcoal made at 800 °C. The Cs⁺-AA of the JC and JO charcoal samples were evaluated based on the adsorption isotherms of an aqueous CsCl (Cs⁺: 33 mg/L) solution. The addition of Fe³⁺ to wood had a negative effect on the Cs⁺-AA of the JO charcoal made at 600 °C, but a positive effect on the Cs⁺-AA of the JC charcoal prepared at 800 °C.