Nano zero valent iron encapsulated in graphene oxide for reducing uranium

Huiping Tang; Wencai Cheng; Yunpeng Yi; Congcong Ding; Xiaoqin Nie

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130229

Nano zero valent iron encapsulated in graphene oxide for reducing uranium

Chemosphere. 2021 Sep:278:130229. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130229. Epub 2021 Mar 22.

Authors

Huiping Tang¹, Wencai Cheng¹, Yunpeng Yi², Congcong Ding³, Xiaoqin Nie⁴

Affiliations

¹ Fundamental Science on Nuclear Wastes and Environmental Safety Laboratory, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China; National Collaborative Innovation Center for Nuclear Waste and Environmental Safety, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China; School of National Defense Science & Technology, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China.
² Fundamental Science on Nuclear Wastes and Environmental Safety Laboratory, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China; National Collaborative Innovation Center for Nuclear Waste and Environmental Safety, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China.
³ Fundamental Science on Nuclear Wastes and Environmental Safety Laboratory, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China; National Collaborative Innovation Center for Nuclear Waste and Environmental Safety, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China. Electronic address: dingc_3650483@163.com.
⁴ Fundamental Science on Nuclear Wastes and Environmental Safety Laboratory, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China; National Collaborative Innovation Center for Nuclear Waste and Environmental Safety, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China; School of National Defense Science & Technology, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China. Electronic address: xiaoqin_nie@163.com.

PMID: 33819879
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130229

Abstract

Nano zero-valent iron (Fe⁰) has been widely used to remove Uranium (U(VI)). In order to enhance the performance of Fe⁰ toward U(VI) removal, the Fe⁰ was assembled into graphene oxide (GO) sheets via 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES) as Fe⁰/APTES-GO composites. The Fe⁰/APTES-GO composites were triumphantly prepared, characterized and analyzed by means of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) together with Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). SEM and TEM-EDS results manifested that Fe⁰ particles were encapsulated into rolled-up GO, which greatly improved the stability of Fe⁰. Batch experiment showed that only a small amount of Fe²⁺ was leached in the first two leaching cycles of Fe⁰/APTES-GO composites. The removal capacity of Fe⁰/APTES-GO composites was up to 1357.99 mg/g at pH = 4.1 and T = 50 °C, which was mainly attributed to the reducing activity of Fe⁰ and an abundance of functional groups (i.e., -COOH, C-OH and -OH) on the Fe⁰/APTES-GO composites. The electrostatic potential (ESP) from the calculation also supported that U(VI) tended to be reduced at the back side of the GO-Fe⁰ cluster.

Keywords: Graphene oxide; Nano zero-valent iron; Removal; Uranium.

MeSH terms

Graphite*
Iron
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
Uranium*

Substances

graphene oxide
Uranium
Graphite
Iron