Removal of uranium(VI) from aqueous solutions using glycidyl methacrylate chelating resins

Glycidyl methacrylate chelating resins were obtained through copolymerization of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) with divinylbenzene (DVB) in the absence and presence of magnetite particles to give GMA/DVB (RI) and GMA/DVB-magnetite (RI-mag), respectively. RI and RI-mag resins were treated with tetraethylenepentamine to give RIa and RIa-mag resins. The uptake behavior of RIa and RIa-mag towards U(VI) in aqueous solutions using batch and column techniques were studied at different experimental conditions. The effect of embedded magnetite particles on the uptake capacity and rate of adsorption was clarified. The maximum uptake capacities obtained at 25 °C were 0.82 and 1.68 mmol/g for RIa and RIa-mag, respectively. Thermodynamic data showed a spontaneous endothermic adsorption process of pseudo-second order kinetics. Regeneration efficiency of 97% was achieved using 0.5 M HNO3. The breakthrough as well as the critical bed height of the investigated resins towards the adsorption of U(VI) was calculated.