62 / 2016-04-26 14:43:55

ADSORPTION OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION USING TEMPLATE SYNTHESIZED POLYPYRROLE NANOPARTICLES - KINETIC AND ISOTHERM STUDIES

Adsorption, conducting polymer, surface groups characterization, radioisotopes, adsorption isotherm.

The increasing discharge of heavy metals and radioactive material waste solutions into the natural environment is a matter of major concern to the environmental scientists across the globe. This is due to the health implications of these contaminants to both human and animal when ingested into the body via various routes. Cobalt radioisotopes are major products of nuclear fission and form common constituents of liquid wastes from medicine, mining and milling industries. Because of their acute toxicity, non-biodegradability and easy migration within the environmental compartments, it is important to recover cobalt contained in aqueous industrial wastes before disposal into water and landfills for human and animal safety. Among the materials of low cost which find applications in wastewater treatments are conducting polymers. Owing to its physico-chemical properties and environmental stability, polypyrrole conducting polymer has been widely used. However, the preparation conditions as well as the sizes of the dopants involved has a significant role in the sorption capacity of polypyrrole. As a result, the aim of this research work is to enhance the sorption capacity of polypyrrole conducting polymer for cobalt sorption by synthesizing polypyrrole on an anionic surfactant to control the size and particle diameter of the polypyrrole for better sorption. Several environmental factors were tested on the adsorption process to optimize the application of the adsorbents on wastewater treatment. The as-prepared polypyrrole nanoparticles were characterized for surface morphology, functional groups, thermal stability and particle surface area by FESEM-EDAX, FTIR, XRD, TGA-DSC and BET analysis. The adsorbent exhibited good radiation stability and high sorption capacity for cobalt radioisotopes.