Uranium(VI) biosorption by sugar beet pulp: equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic studies

Native and chemically modified sugar beet pulp were used as a biosorbents for removal of uranium(VI) from the aqueous solution. The effects on the uranium(VI) uptake such as solution pH (2–9), adsorbent amount (50–500 mg), contact time (0–180 min), temperature (293–323 K) and initial concentration (20–60 mg U L−1) were studied. The obtained maximum adsorption capacities according to Langmuir isotherm model for native and modified sugar beet pulps were 20.45 and 19.80 mg g−1, respectively. Additionally, pseudo-second order kinetic model best fitted the experimental data.