Uranium uptake by Montmorillonite-biomass complexes

Montmorillonite clays and biomass have noticeable metal sorption capacity. Clays or biomass are difficult to separate from the solution when used as sorbent materials. A methodology to retain biomass and improve separation processes is to generate clay biopolymers matrices from fungal biomass grown...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Olivelli, Melisa Soledad, Curutchet, Gustavo Andres, Torres Sánchez, Rosa María
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versão publicada
Data de publicação:2013
País:Argentina
Recursos:Universidad Nacional de La Plata
Repositório:SEDICI (UNLP)
Idioma:inglês
OAI Identifier:oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/104456
Acesso em linha:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/104456
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Ciencias Naturales
Uranium
Biomass
Montmorillonite
Adsorption
Descrição
Resumo:Montmorillonite clays and biomass have noticeable metal sorption capacity. Clays or biomass are difficult to separate from the solution when used as sorbent materials. A methodology to retain biomass and improve separation processes is to generate clay biopolymers matrices from fungal biomass grown on a natural Montmorillonite (MMT). The objective of this study is to generate and characterize clay biopolymers matrices and evaluate their uranium adsorption capacity. The generated clay biopolymers (BMMTs) were characterized through X-ray diffraction, measurement of the apparent diameter of particles, and electrophoretic mobility. Some BMMTs showed greater Uranium-specific adsorption capacity than that found for MMT. The X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the Uranium was located partially in the clay interlayer. The BMMT surfaces were more negatively charged than the MMT surface, thus favoring their uranium uptake. Also, immobilization of the biomass and better coagulation of the system were achieved. These preliminary studies indicate that BMMTs have a great potentiality for uranium uptake processes.