INVESTIGADORES
CURUTCHET Gustavo Andres
artículos
Título:
Uranium uptake by montmorillonite-biomass complexes
Autor/es:
M. OLIVELLI; G. CURUTCHET; R. TORRES
Revista:
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Editorial:
American Chemical Society
Referencias:
Año: 2013 vol. 52 p. 2273 - 2279
ISSN:
0888-5885
Resumen:
Montmorillonite clays and biomass have noticeable metal sorption capacity. Clays or biomass are difficult to
separate from the solution when used as sorbent materials. A methodology to retain biomass and improve separation processes is
to generate clay biopolymers matrices from fungal biomass grown on a natural Montmorillonite (MMT). The objective of this
study is to generate and characterize clay biopolymers matrices and evaluate their uranium adsorption capacity. The generated
clay biopolymers (BMMTs) were characterized through X-ray diffraction, measurement of the apparent diameter of particles, and
electrophoretic mobility. Some BMMTs showed greater Uranium-specific adsorption capacity than that found for MMT. The X-ray
diffraction analysis indicated that the Uranium was located partially in the clay interlayer. The BMMT surfaces were more negatively
charged than the MMT surface, thus favoring their uranium uptake. Also, immobilization of the biomass and better coagulation of the
system were achieved. These preliminary studies indicate that BMMTs have a great potentiality for uranium uptake processes.