The removal of uranium using novel temperature sensitive urea-formaldehyde resin: adsorption and fast regeneration

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 735; p. 139399
• Main Authors: Ma, Dehua, Wei, Jianjian, Zhao, Yishu, Chen, Yili, Tang, Shuangling
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15-09-2020
• Subjects: Fast regeneration; Temperature sensitive; Uranium removal; Urea-formaldehyde resin; Uranium removal; Fast regeneration; Temperature sensitive; Urea-formaldehyde resin
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139399

A novel adsorbent of temperature sensitive urea-formaldehyde (TS-UF) resin was synthesized by base/acid two-step synthetic strategy with low formaldehyde/urea mole ratio of 0.8. The sorption kinetics of TS-UF resin obeys the pseudo-second-order model, and the adsorption is an endothermic process. The Langmuir model can well describe the sorption isotherms, through which the Qmax is calculated to be 99.2 mg/g for uranium (VI) at pH 6.0 and T = 298 K. The characterized results show that the functional groups -NH- and -CH2OH in TS-UF resin have been involved in uranium sorption via chemical interaction. The temperature sensitive property of TS-UF resin significantly accelerates the regeneration of TS-UF resin, which can be fast regenerated within 15 min at its low critical solution temperature 333 K and exhibits high removal efficiency of uranium (VI) (>90%) over 5 cycles. Therefore, TS-UF resin can be as a promising sorbent for the uranium (VI) removal from wastewater due to its low-cost, easy-fabrication, high-efficiency and fast regeneration. This work can not only boost the exploration of novel adsorbent materials, but also promote the investigations of the regeneration and reusability of adsorbents.
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•A novel temperature sensitive urea-formaldehyde resin was fabricated.•The resin was applied to efficiently remove U(VI) from wastewater.•The selective adsorption of U(VI) was caused by -NH-, -CH2OH.•The resin can be fast regenerated within 15 min at its LCST.