Assessment of zinc ferrite nanocrystals for removal of 134Cs and 152+154Eu radionuclides from nitric acid solution

Purification of waste and contaminated water using safe and cost-effective methods is a global and local endeavor. The present work investigates the capability of zinc ferrite (ZFO) nanoparticles (NPs) as superior absorbents to eliminate the radionuclides from radioactive waste. The facile and eco-friendly sol-gel technique was utilized to synthesize ZFO NPs. The ZFO NPs are characterized via energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The EDX and FTIR analyses confirm the chemical composition and modes of the cubic ZFO phase. The FullProf Suite software is employed to analyze the XRD data via Rietveld refinement. The Williamson-Hall (W-H) method is used to determine the average crystallite size of ZFO NPs which found around 40.7 nm. SEM micrograph illustrates that ZFO NPs have a porous nature. Also, the TEM image exhibits that the ZFO NPs hold particles in the nanoscale range with a spherical form. Furthermore, the ZFO NPs show a superparamagnetic nature and have a semiconductor bandgap. Sorption behavior of Cs-134 and Eu152+154 radionuclides in HNO3 acid medium was investigated using the batch technique. The obtained results indicated that the selectivity of Eu152+154 radionuclides is higher than Cs-134 at acidic medium. The sorption kinetics results follow the pseudo-second-order model. The results obtained show that the adsorbent, ZFO, is an effective adsorbent for the removal of Cs-134 and Eu152+154 radionuclides from the nitric acid medium.