Biosorption of cesium(I) from aqueous solution by a novel exopolymers secreted from Pseudomonas fluorescens C-2: equilibrium and kinetic studies.

The biosorption characteristics of Cs(I) ions from aqueous solution using exopolymers (PFC02) produced from Pseudomonas fluorescens C-2 were investigated as a function of pH, biosorbent dosage, contact time and initial concentration. pH played a major role in the adsorption process, and the optimum pH for the removal of Cs(I) was 8.0. Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) models were applied to describe the biosorption isotherm of the Cs(I) ions by PFC02. The Lagergren first-order, pseudo second-order kinetic and intraparticle diffusion models were used to test the kinetic data. Langmuir model and D-R model fitted the equilibrium data better than the Freundlich isotherm. The monolayer adsorption capacities of PFC02 as obtained from Langmuir isotherm at 25 degrees C was found to be 32.63 mg/g. From the D-R isotherm model, the mean free energy was calculated as 26.73 kJ/mol, indicating that the biosorption of cesium was chemisorption. The biosorption process was rapid, and the kinetic rates were best fitted to the pseudo second-order model, which indicated the biosorption process operated through chemisorption mechanism. FT-IR analysis of PFC02 showed the possible functional groups responsible for cesium adsorption were hydroxyl, carboxyl, carbonyl and sulphonate groups. SEM analysis showed the porous structure of the material while EDX analysis confirmed the adsorption of Cs(I) on PFC02. Cesium adsorbed onto the PFC02 could be desorbed efficiently using 1 mol/L HNO3, and the enrichment factor was 50.0. Furthermore, PFC02 could be reused five times with only about 8.25% regeneration loss. The developed method was successfully utilized for the removal of Cs(I) ions from aqueous solution.