"Two-in-one" dual-function luminescent MOF hydrogel for onsite ultra-sensitive detection and efficient enrichment of radioactive uranium in water

An-Qi Cui; Xiao-Yi Wu; Jun-Bin Ye; Gang Song; Di-Yun Chen; Jie Xu; Yu Liu; Jia-Ping Lai; Hui Sun

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.130864

"Two-in-one" dual-function luminescent MOF hydrogel for onsite ultra-sensitive detection and efficient enrichment of radioactive uranium in water

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Apr 15:448:130864. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.130864. Epub 2023 Jan 24.

Authors

An-Qi Cui¹, Xiao-Yi Wu¹, Jun-Bin Ye¹, Gang Song², Di-Yun Chen², Jie Xu¹, Yu Liu¹, Jia-Ping Lai³, Hui Sun⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
² College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Radionuclides Pollution Control and Resources, Guangzhou 510006, China.
³ School of Chemistry, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China. Electronic address: 20081223@m.scnu.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Radionuclides Pollution Control and Resources, Guangzhou 510006, China. Electronic address: esesunhui@gzhu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36736214
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.130864

Abstract

In consideration of the severe hazards of radioactive uranium pollution and the growing demand of uranium resources, the novel sensor/adsorbent composite was creatively developed to integrate the dual functions for on-site detection of uranium contamination and efficient recovery of uranium resources. By hybridizing the luminescent 3D terbium (III) metal-organic framework (Tb-MOF) with sodium alginate (SA) gel using terbium (III) as cross-linker, the Tb-MOF/Tb-AG was fabricated with multi-luminescence centers and sufficient binding sites for uranium. Notably, the ultra-high sensitivity with detection limit as low as 1.2 ppt was achieved, which was 4 orders of magnitude lower than the uranium contamination standard in drinking water (USEPA) and even comparable to the sensitivity of the ICP-MS. Furthermore, the very wide quantification range (1.0 ×10^-9-5.0 ×10^-4 mol/L), remarkable adsorption capacity (549.0 mg/g) and outstanding anti-interference ability have been achieved without sophisticated sample preparation procedures. Applied in complex natural water samples from Uranium Tailings and the Pearl River, this method has shown good detection accuracy. The ultra high sensitivity and great adsorption capacity for uranium could be ascribed to the synergistic coordination, hydrogen bonding and ion exchange between uranium and Tb-MOF/Tb-AG. The mechanisms were explored by infrared spectroscopy, batch experiments, X-ray photoelectron studies and energy dispersive spectroscopic studies. In addition, the Tb-MOF/Tb-AG can be reused for uranium adsorption.

Keywords: Fluorescence; Lanthanide; Metal-organic framework (MOF); Sensor; Uranium.