Sorption of cesium from aqueous solutions using polymer supported bentonite

Polyacrylonitrile supported bentonite (PAN-B) was prepared, characterized and used for adsorption of cesium from aqueous solutions through batch and column techniques. Different techniques were used for characterization of the prepared adsorbent as surface area, swelling properties, FTIR and SEM. The effect of pH, contact time, sorbent dose and the initial cesium concentration on the uptake percent of Cs from aqueous solution were studied. The equilibrium sorption data were described by the Temkin and Flory–Huggins isotherm models and the results could fit more with Temkin model with correlation coefficient 0.997. The effect of temperature on the sorption behavior was studied and the thermodynamic parameters were calculated and showed the exothermic nature of sorption reaction with ΔH_o = ?69.38 kJ/mol. Fixed bed studies were performed, the breakthrough of PAN-B column was studied at different conditions and the breakthrough capacity was calculated.