BACKGROUND
Hydrothermal carbonization has become a proficient technique to synthesize carbon materials from biomass owing to its availability and environmental friendliness. Chrome‐tanned leather, a biomass waste that contains numerous functional groups, is a potential adsorbent for separation of heavy metal ions. In the present work, a phenolic‐functionalized hollow sponge‐like adsorbent (HSLW) was synthesized from leather waste via hydrothermal carbonization in the presence of tannin. This study aims to develop a novel adsorbent for uranium separation from salt lake.
RESULTS
The adsorbent was characterized by several techniques and the adsorption behavior of the adsorbent towards uranium was investigated. The maximum adsorption capacity of the absorbent reached 200.10 mg g−1 at 328.15 K. The adsorption process fitted well with the linear Freundlich isotherm model and pseudo‐second‐order model. The thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption process was spontaneous, feasible and endothermic in nature. Selective adsorption in competitive multi‐ion solution and simulated high‐salinity system showed that the adsorbent had not only strong affinity but also high selectivity towards uranium.
CONCLUSION
HSLW could become a promising adsorbent for practical and efficient selective separation and recovery of uranium from salt lakes. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry