Fabrication of Mesoporous NaZrP Cation-Exchanger for U(VI) Ions Separation from Uranyl Leach Liquors

Abstract

As the demand for uranium production-based energy worldwide has been increasing in the last decades to maintain nuclear growth for electricity production, there are great efforts towards developing an easy and inexpensive method for uranium extraction and separation from its ores. For this purpose, mesoporous inorganic cation exchangers provide an efficient separation technology that can help streamline production and lower overall cost. This study describes the development of nano-structured mesoporous sodium zirconium phosphate (NaZrP-CEX) for separation and extraction of uranyl ions from real samples. The fabricated NaZrP-CEX was well characterized by various techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), N2 adsorption/desorption, Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential). The kinetics/thermodynamic behaviors of uranyl ion adsorption into NaZrP-CEX from an aqueous solution were minutely studied. The kinetic studies showed that the pseudo-second order model gave a better description for the uptake process. The negative value of ΔG indicate high feasibility and spontaneity of adsorption. Finally, mesoporous NaZrP-CEX can be regenerated using both of HNO3 (0.05 M) or HCl (1 M) up to seven cycles of operation.

Hexagonal Cylinder Mesoporous Sorbent for Separation of Uranium Ions from Nitrate Media

“…Furthermore, the complexation strength between the DPTS and uranyl ions was found to increase at higher pH, which is another reason for the pH-dependent U(VI) sorption into SiO 2 -DPTS pores. Uranium can be hydrolyzed into different mononuclear and polynuclear hydrolyzed species in the form of [(UO 2 )m (OH) n ] (2m-n)+ [28]. At low pH values, the primary speciation of U(VI) ions in the solution is UO 2 2+ .…”

Cobalt doped titania-carbon nanosheets with induced oxygen vacancies for photocatalytic degradation of uranium complexes in radioactive wastes

“…Several methods have been used or suggested to remove uranium and other heavy metal ions from a nuclear waste solution, such as chemical precipitation, adsorption, membrane ltration, and ion exchange. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] However, photocatalytic degradation is receiving increasing interest for removing radionuclide complexes from contaminated solutions due to the low cost of operation, simplicity, and environmental friendliness. [15][16][17][18][19] Recent work has revealed that photo-generated electrons can convert uranium into an insoluble form to reduce the soluble hexavalent state to its insoluble quaternary state.…”

Influence of lattice strain on Er3+ ions activated magnesium zirconium phosphate phosphors: Morphological, structural, and photoluminescence properties

“…They examined the crystal structure and characteristics of their colour optical properties in the visible spectrum (400 to 700 nm) for pigment application. In addition, nano-structured mesoporous sodium zirconium phosphate was fabricated and characterised for separation and extraction of uranyl ions from real samples [19,20]. Furthermore, Eu 2+ doped A 0.5 Zr 2 (PO 4 ) 3 (A = Ca, Sr, Ba) phosphors were synthesized by a co-precipitation method [16].…”