Zein-enhanced sodium alginate/thiostannate microsphere adsorbent Zein@SA/KBS for efficient removal of cesium from wastewater

Chi Ma; Wenlei Fan; Wei Qin; Yafei Guo; Lichun Ma; Nelson Belzile; Tianlong Deng

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132600

Zein-enhanced sodium alginate/thiostannate microsphere adsorbent Zein@SA/KBS for efficient removal of cesium from wastewater

J Hazard Mater. 2024 Jan 5:461:132600. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132600. Epub 2023 Sep 21.

Authors

Chi Ma¹, Wenlei Fan¹, Wei Qin¹, Yafei Guo², Lichun Ma³, Nelson Belzile⁴, Tianlong Deng⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Chemistry and Food Technology (TUST), Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Brine Chemical Engineering and Resource Eco-utilization, College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Chemistry and Food Technology (TUST), Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Brine Chemical Engineering and Resource Eco-utilization, College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, PR China. Electronic address: guoyafei@tust.edu.cn.
³ Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co., Ltd., Geermu 816000, PR China.
⁴ School of Natural Sciences, Laurentian University, Ontario P3E 2C6, Canada.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Chemistry and Food Technology (TUST), Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Brine Chemical Engineering and Resource Eco-utilization, College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, PR China. Electronic address: tldeng@tust.edu.cn.

PMID: 37742377
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132600

Abstract

Although efficient removal of Cs from wastewater is of great importance because of the nuclear energy sustainable development and public health, removing cesium is challenging for the high concentrations of sodium and potassium ions coexist. In this work, we synthesized the first novel bismuth-doped layered tin sulfide (KBS) and applied it to the efficient green adsorption of liquid cesium resources. KBS could reach the adsorption equilibrium for Cs⁺ within only 2 min with a theoretical adsorption capacity of 425.55 mg/g. Furthermore, the adsorption performance remained reliable after 10 cycles of use. The structure and properties of KBS were explained at the molecular level by DFT calculations, and the calculated results were in sound agreement with the experimental data. Meanwhile, in this study, the material was reinforced and shaped by the electrostatic interaction of Zein and sodium alginate hydrogel, and finally, Zein@SA/KBS spherical composite adsorbent was obtained. The problem of the difficult recovery of adsorbent and the secondary contamination was solved. The adsorption performance of Zein@SA/KBS on Cs⁺ was better than most composite adsorbents and showed reliable stability. Therefore, the new microspherical adsorbent (Zein@SA/KBS) has great potential for industrial application in removing radioactive cesium from wastewater.

Keywords: Cesium removal; Fixed-bed experiments; Layered tin-sulfide adsorbent; Novel spherical composite adsorbent; Wastewater.