Manganese oxide-coated wool as adsorbent for U(VI) removal from aqueous waste solutions

Natural wool was treated with KMnO4 in order to prepare manganese oxide-coated wool (MOCW). The modified wool was characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR). The adsorption capacity of the synthesised MOCW was investigated by changing the different influencing parameters such as pH, contact time, adsorbent amount and the initial U(VI) concentration. The adsorption process was well fitted with Langmuir isotherm model. U(VI)loaded on MOCW was desorbed using HNO3for reusing with high efficiency. The MOCW was successfully used to remove uranyl ions from aqueous waste sample.