Simultaneous selective removal of cesium and cobalt from water using calcium alginate-zinc ferrocyanide-Cyanex 272 composite beads.

Composite beads consisting of Ca alginate mixed with zinc ferrocyanide (ZnFC) and Cyanex 272 were synthesized in order to selectively adsorb Cs ⁺ and Co ²⁺ from water. Their physicochemical properties of the synthesized composite beads were characterized using various techniques, including FESEM, EDX, FTIR, and TGA. The ZnFC/Cyanex 272/alginate (ZCA) composite beads were then tested as an adsorbent for the selective removal of Cs ⁺ and Co ²⁺ from an aqueous solution. The adsorption capacity increased with increasing ZnFC and Cyanex 272 contents. The adsorption process followed the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetics. The ZCA composite beads exhibited excellent selectivity toward Cs ⁺ and Co ²⁺ even in the presence of competitive cations (K ⁺ , Na ⁺ , Fe ²⁺ , and Ni ²⁺ ). The adsorption capacity of the ZCA composite beads for Cs ⁺ and Co ²⁺ was almost maintained after three times of adsorption-desorption process.
(© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)