Adsorption of gadolinium on activated charcoal from electrolytic aqueous solution

Adsoprtion of gadolinium on activated charcoal has been studied as a function of shaking time, pH, concentration of adsorbate and temperature. Gadolinium adsorption obeys the Langmuir isotherm. H^o and S^o were calculated from the slope and intercept of the In K_D 1/T plot. The influence of different cations and anions on gadolinium adsorption has been examined. The adsorption of other metal ions on activated charcoal has been studied under optimum conditions to check the selectivity of gadolinium adsorption. Consequently, gadolinium was removed from Ni, V, Zn, Cu, Rb, Sr and Mn. More than 97% of the adsorbed gadolinium on activated charcoal can be recovered with 35 ml of 3M HNO₃ solution. Wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer was used for measuring gadolinium concentration.