Radiation synthesis of starch-acrylic acid-vinyl sulfonic acid/multiwalled carbon nanotubes composite for the removal of 134Cs and 152+154Eu from aqueous solutions

Starch-acrylic acid-co-vinyl sulfonic acid/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (starch-AA-VSA/f-MWCNTs) bionanocomposite was successfully synthesized using gamma radiation for initiate the grafting of AA/VSA on starch in the presence of f-MWCNTs by template polymerization technique. The structural characteristics were confirmed by FTIR, SEM, and TGA. The adsorption behaviors of bionanocomposite toward Eu(III) and Cs(I) were examined using the batch adsorption experiments. Langmuir and Freundlich's models were used to fit the experimental data of the adsorption isotherms. Kinetic studies showed that the adsorption data followed the pseudo-second-order model. Thermodynamic studies indicated that the reaction was favorable at high temperature and endothermic process.