Low-cost and eco-friendly biosorbent for effective removal of hazardous ions from simulated radioactive liquid waste

Rice bran (RB) is distinguished by its chemical stability, insoluble in water, and local availability, in addition to the presence of ionizable functional groups which able to bind with the elements. Hence, this material was preferred to be utilized in this study as an operative biosorbent of altered hazardous ions such as Pb2+, Sr2+, and Eu3+ from simulated radioactive waste to attain a safe environment free from the risk of such waste. The kinetic studies illustrated that the sorption process obeys the pseudo-second-order model. From the isotherm studies, Langmuir is the most applicable isotherm model to the experimental data with monolayer sorption capacities of 1.26, 0.76, and 0.33 mmol/g for Sr2+, Eu3+, and Pb2+, respectively. The efficiency of RB was evaluated by applying it to a simulated radioactive waste containing multicomponent to study the interfering ions. When the sorption capacities of RB and other sorbents were compared, it became clear that RB had a significantly higher sorption capacity than most sorbents. The findings exposed that RB is a material with the potential for the treatment of radioactive waste and can be successfully applied in this regard.