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Radioactive uranium removal plays a key role in energy development and environmental security. Sulfide nanoscale zero-valent iron (S-NZVI) has good antioxidant capacity, dispersibility and activity to eliminate U(VI) from wastewater, but the removal efficiency is limited. To improve the reduction and adsorption capacity of S-NZVI, through treating Fe3+ solution by nitro-functionalized UiO-66 (UiO-66-NO 2) with high porosity, UiO-66-NO 2 enhanced S-NZVI adsorbent (S-NZVI/UiO-66) was prepared by liquid phase reduction method. The smaller size and larger specific surface area of S-NZVI/UiO-66 were confirmed by a variety of characterization techniques. Based on the excellent surface structure and reactivity, the U(VI) removal capacity of S-NZVI/UiO-66 (895 mg g−1) was much better than S-NZVI (434 mg g−1) and UiO-66-NO 2 (267 mg g−1). The impacts of pH, background ion strength, coexisting ions and different water environments on adsorption were studied via macroscopic batch experiments. The results showed that S-NZVI/UiO-66 could remove U(VI) adequately in a wide pH range. The removal rate was basically not affected by the concentration of NaNO 3 , demonstrating that the adsorption process of U(VI) on S-NZVI/UiO-66 tended to inner surface complexation. From XPS technique combined with the results of batch adsorption experiments, it was clear that the elimination mechanisms of U(VI) by S-NZVI/UiO-66 were mainly the physical adsorption, electrostatic attraction and complexation of UiO-66-NO 2 , and the reduction and complexation of S-NZVI. Therefore, it is believed that S-NZVI/UiO-66 has a great potential to be an excellent adsorbent in the field of the environment remediation. Moreover, S-NZVI/UiO-66 promises to be a novel nanomaterial for solving the problem of radionuclide contamination in practical environments. [Display omitted] • The pretreatment of UiO-66-NO 2 can effectively reduce the size of S-NZVI. • S-NZVI/UiO had a better specific surface area than the original S-NZVI. • The practical application potential of S-NZVI/UiO was confirmed. • The removal mechanisms were adsorption and reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radioactive pollutants have always been the top priority in wastewater, and searching a green and efficient treatment technology remains a significant challenge. In this study, a novel melamine sponge supported sulfurized nanoscale zero-valent iron (MS@S-NZVI) material with high dispersion was firstly designed to effectively capture U(VI) from water environment. The target material could retain its original structure in water due to the excellent mechanical strength of MS, which greatly inhibited the aggregation of S-NZVI. A series of characterization techniques, such as SEM, XRD, FTIR, TGA and XPS, had proved the effective synthesis and excellent structural properties of the MS@S-NZVI. The faster reaction equilibrium (<1 h) and higher maximum adsorption capacity (180 mg/g at pH = 5 and 298 K) exposed the perfect performance of target material in the elimination of U(VI). In addition, further researches in different water systems exhibited that MS@S-NZVI had a significant U(VI) removal rate in simulated wastewater systems. Finally, the removal process of MS@S-NZVI to U(VI) could be divided into three pathways through the XPS technique, adsorption and reduction were the main reaction mechanisms. This study provides a new insight into the utilization of melamine sponge and a prospect for the practical application of S-NZVI in the removal of radionuclide. [Display omitted] • Melamine sponge was used to support S-NZVI for the first time. • The structure of sponge enabled MS@S-NZVI to disperse fully in water. • The practical application potential of MS@S-NZVI was confirmed. • Adsorption and reduction were the main reaction mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly porous zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), with disparate metal ions (ZIF-8 and ZIF-67), disparate organic ligands (ZIF-9 and ZIF-67), single or double central metal atoms (ZIF-8, Zn/Co-ZIF and ZIF-67) were prepared and used in the elimination of typical radionuclide U(VI). The detailed interaction mechanisms were studied by batch experiments, spectral analyses and DFT calculation. Langmuir isotherms model revealed a decreasing tendency to remove U(VI): ZIF-8 (540.4 mg/g) > Zn/Co-ZIF (527.5 mg/g) > ZIF-9 (448.6 mg/g) > ZIF-67 (368.2 mg/g). Based on the effects of pH and foreign ions, FTIR and XPS spectra analyses, the possible interaction mechanisms of U(VI) onto ZIFs were surface complexation and electrostatic interaction. Among them, ZIF-8 with Zn metal center and 2-methylimidazolate organic ligand had the best elimination capacity for U(VI) because of its large surface area, active metal ion and abundant nitrogen-containing groups (e.g., C–N, Zn–N and C N). Specially, the adsorption energy of ZIF-8-Zn2-UO 2 2+ structure was −2.299 eV obtained by DFT calculation, illustrating that U(VI) and N atoms were formed the most stable bidentate coordination compounds. This paper highlights the effects of the hydroxylated metals, the functional groups of the imidazole ring on the elimination of U(VI), which can provide constructive suggestions for further adsorbent materials amelioration. Image 1 • ZIF-8, ZIF-9, ZIF-67 and Zn/Co-ZIF were fabricated by stirring at room temperature. • Excellent structural performances endowed four ZIFs outstanding sorption capacity. • The differences in adsorption mechanism of four ZIFs were investigated in detail. • The N atoms of ZIF-8 formed bidentate coordination compounds with U(VI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]