A Phosphonic Functionalized Biopolymer for the Sorption of Lanthanum (III) and Application in the Recovery of Rare Earth Elements

Mohammed F. Hamza (), Walid M. Abdellah, Doaa I. Zaki, Yuezhou Wei (), Khalid Althumayri, Witold Brostow and Nora A. Hamad
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Mohammed F. Hamza: School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
Walid M. Abdellah: Nuclear Materials Authority, El-Maadi, Cairo 11728, Egypt
Doaa I. Zaki: Nuclear Materials Authority, El-Maadi, Cairo 11728, Egypt
Yuezhou Wei: School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
Khalid Althumayri: Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 30002, Saudi Arabia
Witold Brostow: Laboratory of Advanced Polymers & Optimized Materials (LAPOM), Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, 3940 North Elm Street, Denton, TX 76207, USA
Nora A. Hamad: Laboratory of Advanced Polymers & Optimized Materials (LAPOM), Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, 3940 North Elm Street, Denton, TX 76207, USA

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-20

Abstract: Phosphonic acid functionalization of gellan gum and chitosan biopolymers was successfully performed. In the first step, the sorption was investigated using La(III) ions before testing for the recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from pretreated industrial acidic leachate. The sorbent was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), and pH of zero charge (pH PZC ) determination. FTIR and EDX results show efficient grafting of phosphoryl groups. The sorption was determined for the crude materials before functionalization (PGEG) and after phosphorylation (TBP-PGEG). More efficient sorption was seen for phosphorylated sorbent than for the crude composite. The sorption capacity is 0.226 mmol La g −1 for the PGEG while the value is 0.78 mmol La g −1 for the TBP-PGEG. We infer that phosphonate groups participate in the sorption. The most effective sorption is at pH = 4. The kinetic behavior was described using pseudo first-order equations (PFORE), pseudo second-order equations (PSORE), and resistance to intraparticle diffusion (RIDE). The sorption isotherms can be better represented by Langmuir and Sips equations than by the Freundlich equation. The sorbent shows high stability performance during reuse cycles with a limit on the decrease in the sorption performances and stability in the desorption performances. We have thus developed a good tool for the recovery of REEs with a selectivity higher than that of the non-functionalized components.

Keywords: biopolymer; phosphorylated sorbent; uptake kinetics; sorption isotherms; rare earth elements (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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