Highly efficient immobilization of uranium(VI) from aqueous solution by phosphonate-functionalized dendritic fibrous nanosilica (DFNS)

Peipei Yang; Qi Liu; Jingyuan Liu; Rongrong Chen; Rumin Li; Xuefeng Bai; Jun Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.09.062

Highly efficient immobilization of uranium(VI) from aqueous solution by phosphonate-functionalized dendritic fibrous nanosilica (DFNS)

J Hazard Mater. 2019 Feb 5:363:248-257. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.09.062. Epub 2018 Sep 27.

Authors

Peipei Yang¹, Qi Liu², Jingyuan Liu¹, Rongrong Chen¹, Rumin Li¹, Xuefeng Bai³, Jun Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Superlight Material and Surface Technology, Ministry of Education, Harbin Engineering University, 150001, PR China; College of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, 150001, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Superlight Material and Surface Technology, Ministry of Education, Harbin Engineering University, 150001, PR China; College of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, 150001, PR China. Electronic address: qiliu@hrbeu.edu.cn.
³ College of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, 150001, PR China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Superlight Material and Surface Technology, Ministry of Education, Harbin Engineering University, 150001, PR China; Harbin Engineering University Capital Management Co. Ltd., PR China; College of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, 150001, PR China; Institute of Advanced Marine Materials, Harbin Engineering University, 150001, PR China. Electronic address: zhqw1888@sohu.com.

PMID: 30308364
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.09.062

Abstract

A novel phosphonate assisted fabrication dendritic fibrous nanosilica (DFNS)-based adsorbing material was successfully synthesis via organic modification with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550), epichlorohydrin (ECH) and phytic acid (PA) on the grounds of hard-soft-acid-base theory, in which organic phosphorous can be applied for efficient chelating uranium(VI) (U(VI)). The adsorption properties can be evaluated by setting a series parameters (pH, adsorbent dose, contact time, initial U(VI) concentration). It is clear that uranium as a "hard" lewis acid can easily form chelating bond with "hard" donor-ligands so that as-papered PA-DFNS has an excellent adsorption capacity (q_m = 1106 mg g^-1, 298.15 K), which exhibits a 163% increment compared with that of original DNFS under the same condition. In the meantime, the adsorption equilibrium time of PA-DNFS (t = 60 min) was shortened by 33% compared with that of pristine DNFS. Besides, the PA-DFNS exhibited good removal efficiency and stability under the 0.1 M HNO₃ after 6 cycles, extending the application of PA-DFNS in the field of adsorption.

Keywords: Chelating uranium(VI); Dendritic fibrous nanosilica (DFNS); Organic modification; Phosphonate.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't