Innovative Green Alginate‐Cellulose Composite for Light Lanthanides: Experimental Design and Comprehensive Studies on Kinetics, Equilibrium, Thermodynamics, and Reusability

Nowadays, there is a great interest in efficient adsorbent development due to the recent demand for lanthanides, which are widely used in high-tech technology. Alginates, owing to their natural occurrence, gel formation capability, and safety, could be promising feasible adsorbents for lanthanide removal. This study proposes the alginate-cellulose composite as an ecological, sustainable adsorbent for light lanthanide sorption. The structure, morphology, qualitative and quantitative compositions, average diameter, and pHpzc of the composite were discussed in great detail. Using the batch approach, sorption trials were performed to evaluate the metal sorption performance. The maximum lanthanide accumulation was attained at pH 5.0 and a dosage of 0.05 g. The uptake kinetics are successfully explained by the Ho and McKay model, whereas the equilibrium data is best represented by the Langmuir equation. The presence of Cl-, NO3-, SO42-, Ni(II), and Co(II) did not have any impact on the adsorption capacity. In turn, the presence of Fe(III) ions led to a 15% reduction in the adsorption. The lanthanide ions were eluted from the adsorbent following the treatment with 0.1 M HNO3. The adsorbent retained over 95% of its initial adsorption capacity after 6 series of sorption/desorption studies.