Studies Regarding the Influence of the Ultrasonication Conditions on the Adsorption Performance of Obtained Ionic Liquid Impregnated Materials

Abstract

Abstract-The influence of the ultrasonication conditions (time and amplitude of ultrasonication) upon the adsorptive properties of the obtained ionic liquid impregnated material, in the removal process of Cs + ions from aqueous solutions, was studied. In the last years ionic liquids was used for the treatment of waste waters containing radionuclides. In order to minimize the treatment cost and to enhance the treatment efficiency, as an alternative to liquid-liquid extraction processes, the use of ionic liquid impregnated support was proposed as a new concept. In the present paper the ultrasonication was used for the impregnation of 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate-[BmimPF6] onto Florisil support. Different physical-chemical analysis (scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive XRay analysis (EDX), and FTIR-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) was used to characterize the obtained ionic liquid impregnated material. In order to obtain a stable and homogenous impregnation of the solid support surface with the studied ionic liquid which will achieve reproducible results in the Cs + adsorption processes it is not necessary to increase the ultrasonication time, but it should be used higher amplitude. The adsorption performance of the Florisil impregnated with [BmimPF 6 ], using optimum conditions of ultrasonication, was studied as a function of Cs + ions initial concentrations. Adsorption isotherms like Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R), and Temkin were used to analyze the equilibrium data at different concentrations. The experimental data showed good fit to the Langmuir isotherm, followed by the Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms and then the least fit was obtained with the Freundlich isotherm.