A facile synthesis of polyacrylic acid–ammonium phosphomolybdate microspheres for the highly selective removal of cesium

A novel polyacrylic acid–ammonium phosphomolybdate (PAA–AMP) adsorbent capable of highly selective adsorption of Cs+ in robust acid solutions was developed. The effects of adsorbent dosage, pH, contact time, temperature, and competing ions on the Cs+ removal performance were investigated. The adsorbent rapid (30 min) selective adsorption of Cs+ in a wide pH (pH = 1–12) range, with little effect of competing ions on the adsorption, and a maximum adsorption capacity of 66.71 mg g−1. The adsorption data fitted well with pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm model, and adsorption mechanism is ion exchange between NH4+ and Cs+.