Pengfei Zong

Rapid and Highly Efficient Preconcentration of Eu(III) by Core–Shell Structured Fe3O4@Humic Acid Magnetic Nanoparticles

In this study, humic acid-coated Fe(3)O(4) magnetic nanoparticles (Fe(3)O(4)@HA MNPs) were synthesized using a chemical coprecipitation method and characterized in detail. The XRD analysis results showed that HA coating did not change the phase of Fe(3)O(4) cores. The TEM image suggested that Fe(3)O(4)@HA MNPs had nearly uniform size without the observation of aggregation. The Fe(3)O(4)@HA MNPs were stable in solution and could be easily separated from aqueous solution using a magnetic separation method. A batch technique was adopted to investigate the removal efficiency of Fe(3)O(4)@HA MNPs toward Eu(III) under various environmental conditions. The kinetic process of Eu(III) sorption on Fe(3)O(4)@HA MNPs reached equilibrium within <30 min. The fast sorption kinetics and high sorption amount were attributed to the plentiful surface sites provided by the surface-coated HA macromolecules. The Fe(3)O(4)@HA MNPs was able to remove ~99% of Eu(III) in aqueous solution at pH 8.5. Except for SO(4)(2-) anions, the coexisting electrolyte ions had no significant competition effects on the removal of Eu(III) by Fe(3)O(4)@HA MNPs. The obvious sorption-desorption hysteresis suggested that the removal of Eu(III) was dominated by inner-sphere surface complexation. The sorption isotherm agreed well with the Langmuir model, having a maximum sorption capacity of 6.95 × 10(-5) mol g(-1). The leaching test showed that the Eu(III)-loaded Fe(3)O(4)@HA colloids were capable to maintain high thermodynamic stability for long aging times. The findings herein suggested that Fe(3)O(4)@HA MNPs could be potentially used as a highly effective material for the enrichment and preconcentration of radionuclide Eu(III) or other trivalent lanthanides/actinides in geological repositories or in nuclear waste management.

New insight into Eu(III) sorption mechanism at alumina/water interface by batch technique and EXAFS analysis

Abstract In this study, the interactions among Eu(III), humic acid (HA) and γ-Al2O3 as a function of pH and ionic strength were investigated by batch technique and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis. For binary γ-Al2O3/Eu(III) systems, the pH-dependent and ionic strength-independent sorption behavior was indicative of an inner-sphere complexation mechanism. The EXAFS spectra analysis showed that Eu(III) sorption mechanisms at pH 5.0, 6.5 and 8.0 could be attributed to the formation of edge-shared and corner-shared surface complexes. In contrast, surface precipitation and/or surface polymerization tended to be the predominant sorption mechanism at pH 10.0. The spectra analysis results suggested no difference between the proportions of edge-shared and corner-shared complexes formed at different ionic strengths. For ternary γ-Al2O3/HA/Eu(III) systems, the sorption percentage of Eu(III) increased with increasing ionic strength. The EXAFS-derived structural parameters pointed to the formation of binary surface complexes (i.e., edge-shared mode and corner-shared mode) at low ionic strength and ligand-bridging ternary complexes at high ionic strength. In addition, the stoichiometry of ternary complexes showed a trend from 1:1 form (i.e., γ-Al2O3/L/Eu(III), L represents HA sites) to 1:2 form (i.e., γ-Al2O3/L2/Eu(III), L represents HA sites) with increasing ionic strength. The experimental findings in this study can provide an important theoretical basis for further predicting the fate of trivalent radionuclides in aquatic systems.

Fabrication of oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes for the immobilization of U(VI) from aqueous solutions

Herein, the surface properties of oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNs) were characterized by adopting XRD, SEM and FTIR. The sorption behaviors of U(VI) from wastewater by oxidized MWCNs were investigated by adopting batch technique. The experimental results demonstrated that sorption behaviors of U(VI) on oxidized MWCNs were dependent on ionic strength at low pH, and independent of ionic strength at high pH. The ion exchange and outer-sphere surface complexation were main mechanism for sorption of U(VI) on oxidized MWCNs at low pH, whereas inner-sphere surface complexation and coinstantaneous co-precipitation were primary mechanism at high pH.

Evaluation of permutite for removal of radiocobalt from nuclear wastewater

A synthetic zeolite, commercially available as permutite was tested for removing radiocobalt from aqueous solutions by sorption. The sorption process was studied as a function of contact time, pH, ionic strength and solid content by batch technique. The results revealed that the process is dependent on the pH and ionic strength under ambient conditions. The kinetic sorption was fitted well by a pseudo-second-order rate equation. The thermodynamic parameters (ΔH0, ΔS0, ΔG0) suggested that sorption behavior of Co(II) is a spontaneous and endothermic process. The study shows that permutite has excellent potential for disposal of wastewaters containing radiocobalt.

Synthesis of kaolinite/iron oxide magnetic composites and their use in the removal of Cd(II) from aqueous solutions.

Kaolinite/iron oxide magnetic composites (kaolinite/MCs) were used as adsorbent for the removal of Cd(II) from aqueous solutions. The influences of pH, ionic strength, solid/liquid ratio and temperature on Cd(II) sorption on kaolinite/MCs were evaluated. The results showed that the removal of Cd(II) on kaolinite/MCs was strongly dependent on pH and ionic strength. An optimal kaolinite/MCs concentration mass per volume for removal of Cd(II) from aqueous solutions was 1.4 g L(-1). The Langmuir and Freundlich models were used to simulate sorption isotherms of Cd(II) at three different temperatures of 293, 313 and 333 K. The sorption of Cd(II) on kaolinite/MCs increased with increasing temperature, and thermodynamic parameters (standard entropy change, enthalpy change and Gibbs free energy change) illustrated that this sorption process was spontaneous and endothermic. The sorption behaviors of Cd(II) were mainly dependent on surface properties of kaolinite/MCs and solution chemistry conditions. The sorption capacity of Cd(II) on kaolinite/MCs was lower than that on kaolinite, because iron oxide particles decreased surface charge of kaolinite leading to less sorption capacity. Due to high magnetism, kaolinite/MCs could be easily separated with an external magnetic field. Kaolinite/MCs could therefore be used as potential adsorbent for preconcentration and immobilization of Cd(II) ions from large volumes of aqueous solutions.