Removal of uranium by biogenetic jarosite coupled with photoinduced reduction in the presence of oxalic acid: a low-cost remediation technology

As jarosite and oxalic acid are ubiquitous in nature, we investigated a remediation technology for uranium-contaminated site by photoinduced reduction coupled with adsorption of jarosite. Jarosite exhibited excellent adsorption properties for uranium, with a highest adsorption capacity 453.98 mg g −1 . With the presence of oxalic acid, U(VI) was removed at a reduction ratio of 30.71% under irradiation. It may be that oxalic acid promoted the reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II) in jarosite, and then Fe(II) reduced U(VI) to U(IV). The results confirmed the applicability of the remediation by adsorption using jarosite and light-induced reduction.