article · International Journal of Environmental & Analytical Chemistry
Blast furnace slag, an abundant industrial waste with a relatively consistent composition, can be processed to create mesoporous aluminium oxide for cleaning wastewater containing uranium. The production process involves removing silica from the slag and precipitating aluminium using sodium hydroxide at a controlled pH of 5.5. The resulting material displays a surface area of 137.7 square metres per gram and an average pore size of 3.9 nanometres. In laboratory tests evaluating adsorption balance, kinetics, and isotherms, the synthesized aluminium oxide effectively removed hexavalent uranium ions from aqueous solutions. The process achieved a maximum sorption capacity of 62 milligrams per gram. Testing indicated that the uranium uptake happens through inner-sphere complexes and ion-exchange mechanisms, while high elution efficiency demonstrates that the material can be recovered and reused.
Uranium contamination in industrial wastewater poses severe environmental and health hazards. Using blast furnace slag, an abundant industrial byproduct, provides a double environmental benefit by repurposing solid waste into an effective filter material. This method offers an affordable and sustainable route to capture hazardous radioactive ions from contaminated water streams.
This material is relevant for industrial wastewater treatment facilities, environmental remediation operators, and nuclear or mining sector managers seeking cost-effective water purification media. Given that the findings are based on laboratory-scale characterisation, kinetics, and batch adsorption trials, the technology is at an applied laboratory testing stage and requires piloting before industrial deployment.
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This work provides an environmental approach to utilise Blast furnace slag (BFS) waste for the processing of aluminium oxide (Al2O3-BFS) as an efficient adsorbent for uranium removal from wastewater. The composition of BFS is less variable and this makes it a low cost and abundant raw material for preparing a solid base Al2O3-BFS. The silica material was initially removed and then the aluminium content was separated by precipitation with sodium hydroxide depending on pH control (pH 5.5). The raw BFS and Al2O3-BFS were characterised via various methods, such as; XRD, Zeta potential, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm, DLS, and FT-IR. BFS exhibited the typical type III isotherm with an H3-type hysteresis loop. The curve of Al2O3-BFS exhibited the typical IV isotherms with a H2-type hysteresis loop. The BET surface and average pore sizes of the Al2O3-BFS are 137.7 m2 g-1 and 3.9 nm, respectively. Experiments and discussions were performed in terms of balance, isothermal, kinetic, and applicability. The finding provides proof of the ability of synthesised Al2O3-BFS to remove U(VI) ions from wastewater as an efficient adsorbent with a maximum sorption capacity value of 62 mg/g. The pseudo second, Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich models were found suitable to explain the rate kinetics and isotherm of uranium removal. Uranium sorption on Al2O3-BFS may occur via inner-sphere complex and ion-exchange between uranium ions and HO-Al2O3-BFS groups. The higher elution efficiency of Al2O3-BFS indicates a promising adsorbent in the technology of U(VI) removal.
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DOI: 10.1080/03067319.2021.1900150
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