Recovery of Fe(III) and La(III) from liquid solutions by modified Melia Azedarach zinc oxide as eco-friendly sorbent

ABSTRACT

This study is interested in the sorption of Fe(III) and/or La(III) from liquid solutions by modified Melia Azedarach zinc oxide (MAZO) sorbent. MAZO was fabricated by impregnation of ZnO on the external surface of thermally treated Melia Azedarach fruits. The prepared sorbent was characterised by different analytical tools; FT-IR, XRD, TGA&DTA, EDX, SEM, and TEM. Sorption data showed equilibrium time (60 min). The distribution coefficients as a function of pH have a separation factor ${{\mathit{\alpha }}^{\mathit{La}}}_{\mathit{Fe}}$ (77) at pH 2.4. Capacity has the values 66.8 & 37.42 mgg⁻¹ for Fe(III) & La(III) respectively. Finally, column data reveal that Fe(III) and/or La(III) can be loaded and separated from the crude phosphoric acid and synthetic waste using different concentrations of HNO₃ as eluent. The investigation evidenced that MAZO is suitable for the recovery of Fe(III) and/or La(III) from liquid waste.

KEYWORDS:

• Fe(III)
• La(III)
• zinc oxide
• distribution coefficient
• column
• crude phosphoric acid

Acknowledgments

Great thanks to all members of the nuclear fuel technology and environmental radioactive pollution departments, Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority for supporting this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).