Adsorption behavior of some radionuclides on the Chinese weathered coal

The equilibrium and kinetic properties of Am(III), Eu(III) and Cs(I) ions adsorption by three weathered coals (WCs) from China, have been investigated in batch stirred-tank experiments. The effects of contact time, solution acidity and initial sorbate concentration on the adsorption of Am(III), Eu(III) and Cs(I) by Yuxian(YX)¸ Tongchuan (TC) and Pingxiang (PX) WC were evaluated. The radionuclide ions are able to form complex compounds with carboxylic and phenolic groups of WCs and they are also bounded with phenolic groups even at high acidity reaction solution (>0.1 mol/L). Mechanisms including ion exchange, complexation and adsorption to the coal surface are possible in the sorption process. The acidity of the solution played an important role in the adsorption. Even acidity as high as 0.1 mol/L, 60% of Am(III) or Eu(III), 40% of Cs(I) were found to be sorbed on the YX WC, which had the best adsorption capacity for Am(III) and Eu(III). Our batch adsorption studies showed the equilibrium adsorption data fit the linear Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm. The maximum equilibrium uptake of Eu(III) were 0.412, 3.701, 5.446 mmol/g for JXWC, TCWC and YXWC, respectively.