Environmental bioremediation for uranium removing from aqueous solution by modified polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) embedded with Aspergillus versicolor

Development of new functional materials for heavy metals removal from environmental system has attracted considerable attention. In this paper, novel functional polymer consists of modified polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) embedded with Aspergillus versicolor biomass, using gamma radiolysis is prepared for uranium ions removal. Twenty two samples, with different physical conditions, were prepared to investigate the capability of the proposed functional polymer for adsorption and removal of uranyl ions from aqueous solution. Furthermore, comprehensive study was conducted to examine effect of A. versicolor particle size, embedded biomass percentage inside the functional polymer, and gamma ray radiation dose on adsorption efficiency of UO22+ ions. Obtained results illustrated that modified PVA with acetic acid, embedded with 1% A. versicolor biomass that has 45 µm particle size, and gamma irradiated at 10kGy is considered as the optimum functional polymer with the highest removal efficiency of UO22+ ions of 57.20%. The optimum functional polymer, before and after uranium ions adsorption, were characterized using SEM and FTIR techniques. It was found that the adsorbed UO22+ ions can be desorbed effectively by 0.1 M EDTA.