Batch and fixed-bed column studies for selective removal of cesium ions by compressible Prussian blue/polyurethane sponge

In this work, compressible Prussian blue/polyurethane sponges (PB@PUS) for selective removal of cesium ions were prepared via an in situ radiation chemical route. The characterization results indicate that uniform PB nanoparticles were successfully synthesized and well dispersed on the porous skeleton of sponge. Batch and fixed-bed column experiments were detailedly conducted to investigate their adsorption performances. Batch adsorption experiments reveal that PB@PUS exhibited good selective removal property for cesium ions in a wide range of pH, whose maximal adsorption capacity and removal efficiency reached 68.6 mg g(−1) and 99%, respectively. The adsorption processes could be described by the Langmuir isotherm adsorption model and pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetic model. The fixed-bed column experiments show that the breakthrough and exhaustion time obviously increased with the decrease of flow rate and initial cesium ions concentration. The breakthrough curves could be well fitted by the Thomas model and Yoon–Nelson model. The theoretical saturated adsorption capacity of PB@PUS-3 calculated from the Thomas model was 68.2 mg g(−1). The as-prepared samples were light, stable and compressible, which can be applied in radioactive wastewater treatment.