Preparation of composite adsorbents and their characteristics

Composite adsorbents were prepared and tested for their ability to remove UO22+ in aqueous solution. Synthetic zeolite (zeolite-X) and natural zeolite (clinoptilolite) as an active component were mixed with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solution as a binder to form the PAN-zeolite-X (composite-X) and PAN-clinoptilolite (composite-C) composite adsorbents. Optimum preparation conditions for the composites were determined. Effects of various parameters on the preparation of the composites were investigated. Each of the prepared composite adsorbents was treated with UO2(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O and Th(NO3)(4)center dot 4H(2)O in aqueous solution to determine their sorption capacities. It was found that both composites have about four times higher thorium than uranium uptake capacity. XRD-diffraction patterns were obtained for zeolite-X, composite-X, clinoptilolite and composite-C. Surface area and cation exchange capacities (CEC) were also determined for both composites.