High performance of phosphonate-functionalized mesoporous silica for U(vi) sorption from aqueous solution

Abstract

The renaissance of nuclear energy promotes increasing basic research on the separation and enrichment of nuclear fuel associated radionuclides. Herein, we report the first study for developing mesoporous silica functionalized with phosphonate (NP10) as a sorbent for U(VI) sorption from aqueous solution. The mesoporous silica was synthesized by co-condensation of diethylphosphatoethyltriethoxysilane (DPTS) and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), using cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as the template. The synthesized silica nanoparticles were observed to possess a mesoporous structure with a uniform pore diameter of 2.7 nm, and to have good stability and high efficiency for U(VI) sorption from aqueous solution. A maximum sorption capacity of 303 mg g(-1) and fast equilibrium time of 30 min were achieved under near neutral conditions at room temperature. The adsorbed U(VI) can be easily desorbed by using 0.1 mol L(-1) HNO(3), and the reclaimed mesoporous silica can be reused with no decrease of sorption capacity. In addition, the preconcentration of U(VI) from a 100 mL aqueous solution using the functionalized mesoporous silica was also studied. The preconcentration factor was found to be as high as 100, suggesting the vast opportunities of this kind of mesoporous silica for the solid-phase extraction and enrichment of U(VI).

Study of polyethyleneimine- and amidoxime-functionalized hybrid biomass of Spirulina (Arthrospira) platensis for adsorption of uranium (VI) ion

“…In general, heavy metal ions from wastewater can be removed by physical, chemical, and biological methods such as adsorption, flocculation, coagulation, precipitation, membrane filtration, and electrochemical techniques (Erkaya et al 2014;Kim et al 2014;Li et al 2014;Kushwaha and Sudhakar 2013;Zhang et al 2013;Ozer et al 2012;Ghasemi et al 2011; Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues * Gulay Bayramoglu g_bayramoglu@hotmail.com 1 et al 2006;Plazinski 2012). Adsorption of uranium ion by various adsorbents and microorganisms is reported in the literature (Fryxell et al 2005;Yuan et al 2011Yuan et al , 2012Ding et al 2012;Khani et al 2008;Bhat et al 2008). For example, Fryxell et al (2005) have used glycinyl-urea-and salicylamide-modified MCM-41 silica particles for actinide (i.e., Th, Np, Am(III), Pu(IV), and U(VI)) adsorption, and the binding is dependent on medium pH.…”

“…For example, Fryxell et al (2005) have used glycinyl-urea-and salicylamide-modified MCM-41 silica particles for actinide (i.e., Th, Np, Am(III), Pu(IV), and U(VI)) adsorption, and the binding is dependent on medium pH. Yuan et al (2011Yuan et al ( , 2012 have studied the adsorption of uranium from aqueous solution on the phosphonate-and dihydroimidazolefunctionalized silica particle, and the maximum adsorption capacities of the modified silica particles were reported as 303 and 268 mg g −1 , respectively. The maximum sorption capacity of the adsorbent for U(VI) ion was found to be 299 mg g −1 at pH 4.0.…”

Functionalized magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles for U removal from low and high pH groundwater

“…For example, "Hard Lewis base" ligands (e.g., salicylic acid, glycine, phosphine ligands) incorporated as self-assembled monolayers on mesoporous supports (SAMMS) are effective for selective removal of "Hard Lewis acid" lanthanides [9,10] and actinides (e.g., Am, Pu, U and Th) [12]; while hydroxypyridinones (HOPO)-SAMMS performed well for the selective sequestration of actinides (Pu, Np, and U) [11]. In addition, there are several functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles that have been shown to be effective at binding aqueous U, including aminomodified MCM-41 [13] and SBA-15 [21], dopamine-functionalized SBA-15 [24], amidoxime-modified MCM-41 [23][24][25][26] and quartz [27], dihydroimidazole functionalized SBA-15 [15], monoamide resins with porous silica support [28], phosphonate or phosphine oxide-incorporated MCM-41 [16,23], SBA-V [17], KIT-6 [18] and carboxymethylated polyethyleneimine functionalized MSU-H [29]. However, among these studies, most of the functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles were evaluated under near-neutral pH conditions (pH [5][6][7][8] in which aqueous U species tend to precipitate or strongly adsorb onto various sorbents.…”

“…Functionalized mesoporous silica nanomaterials have been developed and demonstrated as effective sorbents for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants [4][5][6][7][8], such as toxic metal anions (e.g., CrO 4 2− and AsO 4 3− ) [6], lanthanides [9,10] and actinides (e.g., Pu [11,12], Np [11], and U [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]). For example, "Hard Lewis base" ligands (e.g., salicylic acid, glycine, phosphine ligands) incorporated as self-assembled monolayers on mesoporous supports (SAMMS) are effective for selective removal of "Hard Lewis acid" lanthanides [9,10] and actinides (e.g., Am, Pu, U and Th) [12]; while hydroxypyridinones (HOPO)-SAMMS performed well for the selective sequestration of actinides (Pu, Np, and U) [11].…”

Nanomaterials and nanotechnologies in nuclear energy chemistry

“…The sorbent exhibits good stability, reusability, high sorption capacity and fast rate of equilibrium for sorption/desorption of U(VI). Recently, we synthesized two kinds of organic functionalized mesoporous silicas, phosphonate functionalized MCM-41(NP10) [66] and amino functionalized SBA-15 (APSS) [67], by co-condensation and grafting method, respectively. Consequently, the synthesized materials were used as sorbents for the removal of U(VI) from aqueous solution.…”