Applications of ionizing radiation to remediation of materials contaminated with heavy metals

The removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater using gamma-radiation has been investigated for the cases of copper and nickel ions. Hydrated electrons and hydrogen atoms reduce these metal ions. Parameter analysis includes the effect of metal ions concentration, Ph, temperature and irradiation dose. The maximum precipitation of the unirradiated metal ions was achieved in the alkaline medium, followed by the neutral one and the least precipitation was in the acidic medium. Irradiations at Ph 5.5 showed that Cu2+ precipitated more than Ni2+ and that the same behaviour was observed when both elements were adsorbed by different adsorbents (GAC, Amberlite IR-120 plus and dowex -1 exchangers). The combined treatment of irradiation plus adsorption resulted in more removal percent especially for powdered activated carbon