Jun, Byung-Moon Chae, Sung Ho Kim, Deokhwan Kim, Tack-Jin Jung, Jun-Young Nam, Seong-Nam Yoon, Yeomin Park, Chanhyuk Rho, Hojung 2024-05-23T02:00:14Z 2024-05-23T02:00:14Z 2024-05-23 2024-05 0304-3894 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/149869 Acid leaching has been widely applied to treat contaminated soil, however, it contains several inorganic pollutants. The decommissioning of nuclear power plants introduces radioactive and soluble U(VI), a substance posing chemical toxicity to humans. Our investigation sought to ascertain the efficacy of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), an highly efficient adsorbent, in treating U(VI) in wastewater. The adsorption equilibrium of U(VI) by hBN reached saturation within a mere 2 h. The adsorption of U(VI) by h-BN appears to be facilitated through electrostatic attraction, as evidenced by the observed impact of pH variations, acidic agents (i.e., HCl or H 2 SO 4 ), and the presence of background ions on the adsorption performance. A reusability test demonstrated the successful completion of five cycles of adsorption/desorption, relying on the surface characteristics of h-BN as influenced by solution pH. Based on the experimental variables of initial U(VI) concentration, exposure time, temperature, pH, and the presence of background ions/organic matter, a feature importance analysis using random forest (RF) was carried out to evaluate the correlation between performances and conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to conduct the adsorption of U(VI) generated from real contaminated soil by h-BN, followed by interpretation of the correlation between performance and conditions using RF. Lastly, a. plausible adsorption mechanism between U(VI) and h-BN was explained based on the experimental results, characterizations, and a. comparison with previous adsorption studies on the removal of heavy metals by h-BN. English Elsevier BV Adsorption of uranyl ion on hexagonal boron nitride for remediation of real U-contaminated soil and its interpretation using random forest Article 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134072 1 Journal of Hazardous Materials, v.469 Journal of Hazardous Materials 469 N scie scopus 001218971600001 2-s2.0-85188818213 Engineering, Environmental Environmental Sciences Engineering Environmental Sciences & Ecology Article SUPERIOR ADSORBENTS RADIOACTIVE-WASTE RAPID REMOVAL URANIUM NANOSHEETS PERFORMANCE Boron nitride Soil washing Uranium adsorption Random forest