Potential application of graphene oxide and Aspergillus nigerspores with high adsorption capacity for recovery of europium from red phosphor, compact fluorescent lamp and simulated radioactive waste

The recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) is a global challenge and the mining of rare earths has serious environmental implications due to the toxic waste released post mining. Hence, the rising demand for rare earths and their far reaching electronic applications necessitates an effective strategy to recover the REEs from more viable sources. In this work, the graphene oxide–Aspergillus nigerspores (GO–A. nigerspores) blend was utilized for adsorptive recovery of a precious rare earth Eu(III) and the adsorption variables like pH of the medium, adsorbent dosage, sorption kinetics, thermodynamics, and isotherm were optimized for the developed biosorbent. The adsorption process suited the Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 147.3 mg/g. The pseudo–second–order kinetics was a perfect fit to describe the adsorption process. The results obtained through the Van’t Hoff plot show negative free energy change (ΔGº) which implies the spontaneity and the negative standard enthalpy change (ΔHº) values show that the nature of the adsorption process is exothermic. The analytical characterizations including FTIR, Raman, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDX) were employed to study the biosorbent. The features of GO–A. nigerspores biosorbent was applied to recover Eu(III) from real samples such as fluorescent lamp phosphor, red phosphor powder, and a simulated radioactive waste solution.