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Effective Removal of Beryllium from Industrial Wastewater by Alkali-Leaching Activated Carbon

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Abstract

A modified material of activated carbon by alkali leaching pretreatment (NaOH-AC) for adsorbing beryllium was reported. The batch test results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity of beryllium by NaOH-AC was 40.59 mg/g. The pH value of the treated solution was 6, which met the discharge standards of industrial wastewater. The results of the BET analysis showed that NaOH-AC had a high specific surface area and a small pore size. The kinetic results showed that the process of NaOH-AC adsorption of beryllium was mainly controlled by chemical adsorption but also by physical adsorption and intraparticle diffusion. The thermodynamic results showed that the adsorption process was a spontaneous endothermic reaction. The comparative characterization of beryllium adsorption by NaOH-AC showed that beryllium existed on the surface of activated carbon in the form of Be(OH)2.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Resources and Environment (2020NRE02), research on characteristic properties of typical radioactive solid waste and radiation protection regulation technology and operation management mechanism (Ministry of Science and Technology of China, 2019YFC1907701), and Scientific Research Project of Education Department of Hunan (Project No. 21C0297),

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  1. Xu Zhao and Boyuan Zheng contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, Hunan, China

    Xu Zhao

  2. School of Resource Environment and Safety Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, Hunan, China

    Boyuan Zheng, Hongyang **a, Yucheng Su, Hongqiang Wang, Eming Hu, Pengfei Hu, Fang Hu, Zhiwu Lei & Qingliang Wang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Resources and Environment, East China University of Technology, Nanchang, 330013, Jiangxi, China

    Zhiwu Lei

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  1. Xu Zhao
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Xu Zhao, Boyuan Zheng, Zhiwu Lei, Yucheng Su, Hongqiang Wang, Eming Hu, Pengfei Hu, Fang Hu, Qingliang Wang, Chunze Zhou, and Hongyang **a. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Xu Zhao, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhiwu Lei.

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Highlights

1. NaOH-AC was used for the first time to treat beryllium-containing wastewater.

2. The adsorption capacity of NaOH-AC was 40.63 mg/g.

3. Alkaline leaching can improve the treatment capacity of high concentration wastewater.

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Zhao, X., Zheng, B., **a, H. et al. Effective Removal of Beryllium from Industrial Wastewater by Alkali-Leaching Activated Carbon. Water Air Soil Pollut 234, 568 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06577-1

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