Kinetic and thermodynamic studies on the adsorption of U(VI) ions on densely crosslinked poly(methacrylic acid) from aqueous solutions

Abstract In this study, densely crosslinked poly(methacrylic acid) was used to adsorb uranium(VI) ions from aqueous solution. For this purpose, the crosslinked copolymer of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDM) and methacrylic acid (MA) containing 25% (w/w) methacrylic acid (MA) was synthesized by using dibenzoyl peroxide-N,N-dimethylaniline (BPO-DMA) initiator system at room temperature. The adsorption of uranium(VI) ions on the copolymer sample (0.02 g copolymer/5 mL solution of U(VI) ions) was carried out in a batch reactor. The parameters which effect the uranium adsorption process, such as, contact time, pH of solution, initial uranium(VI) concentration and temperature were investigated. It was observed that an increase in these parameters enhanced the removal of U(VI) ions from aqueous solution. The adsorption data were modelled by the Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin–Radushkevich (D–R) isotherms. The adsorption capacity of the crosslinked copolymer and free energy change were calculated by using D–R isotherms. Thermodynamic parameters (ΔH°, ΔS° and ΔG°) were determined for the adsorption of U(VI) ions from aqueous solutions by the crosslinked copolymer bearing methacrylic acid functional groups. Experimental adsorption data were analyzed using sorption kinetic models of the pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order kinetic models. It was observed that pseudo-second order kinetic model provided a high goodness of fit with experimental data for the adsorption of U(VI) ions on the crosslinked copolymer bearing methacrylic acid functional groups. The densely crosslinked poly(methacrylic acid) might be of interest in large scale uranium removals from aqueous solution, since it had high uranyl sorption capacities ranging from 0.16 mmol/g to 2.37 mmol/g copolymer at pH 2.7 (293 K).