The role of salts derived from benzilic acid and quinolines in the adsorption of some actinides

The adsorption conditions of uranium, neptunium, thorium, europium on the adsorbers containing the benzylate salts of the 8-hydroxyquinoline (adsorber B), and of 2-methyl- 8-hydroxyquinoline (adsorber R), were prepared, supported onto charcoal and compared with an adsorber, containing the benzylic acid, (G), stabilized with d-glucoseamine, and adsorbed onto charcoal as well. Thorium, protoactinium, and europium are adsorbed nearly completely from aqueous solutions at a large pH range, even in low acid medium, whereas uranium and neptunium are completely adsorbed only from basic solutions of pH 9. The actinides are preferentially adsorbed with respect to other ions, which are present in natural waters, such as calcium or magnesium. This feature make the analysis of most actinides in natural waters easily to be performed without changing the pH of the original system. The uranium (neptunium) analysis indeed may be accomplished after adjusting the original pH to a fairly basic value (about to 9). The adsorption experiments from real samples showed that the analysis of the actinides dispersed in natural water systems may be successfully performed after previous concentration on the adsorbers prepare. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Anion-exchange behavior of rare earths,thorium, protactinium and uranium in thiocyanate-chloride media

The anion exchange of rare earths(III), thorium(IV), protactinium(V) and uranium (VI) from thiocyanate-chloride media was investigated. The equilibrium, distribution study showed that the rare earths(III) and yttrium(III) were not significantly adsorbed on a basic anion-exchangc resin, while thorium(IV), protactinium(V) and uranium(VI) were strongly adsorbed. Adsorption from the thiocyanate-chloride solutions is in the order, U(Vl) > Pa(V) > Th(IV). The separation of rare earths(III) or yttrium(III), thorium(IV), protactinium(V) and uranium(VI) was successfully accomplished by column elution in thiocyanate-chloride media. A rapid and effective ion-exchange method for separating protactinium-233 from irradiated thorium(IV) is also presented.     

Modeling of Copper(II), Cadmium(II), and Lead(II) Adsorption on Red Mud from Metal-EDTA Mixture Solutions

The adsorption of toxic heavy metal cations, i.e., Cu(II), Cd(II), and Pb(II), from metal-EDTA mixture solutions on a composite adsorbent having a heterogeneous surface, i.e., bauxite waste red mud, has been investigated and modeled with the aid of a modified surface complexation approach in respect to pH and complexant dependency of heavy metal adsorption. EDTA was selected as the modeling ligand in view of its wide usage as an anthropogenic chelating agent and abundance in natural waters. The adsorption experiments were conducted for metal salts (nitrates), metal-EDTA complexes alone, or in mixtures containing (metal+metal-EDTA). The adsorption equilibrium constants for the metal ions and metal-EDTA complexes were calculated. For all studied cases, the solid adsorbent phase concentrations of the adsorbed metal and metal-EDTA complexes were found by using the derived model equations with excellent compatibility of experimental and theoretically generated adsorption isotherms. The model was useful for metal and metal-EDTA mixture solutions either at their natural pH of equilibration with the sorbent, or after pH elevation with NaOH titration up to a certain pH. Thus adsorption of every single species (M(2+) or MY(2-)) or of possible mixtures (M(2+)+MY(2-)) at natural pH or after NaOH titration could be calculated by the use of simple quadratic model equations, once the initial concentrations of the corresponding species, i.e., [M(2+)](0) or [MY(2-)](0), were known. The compatibility of theoretical and experimental data pairs of adsorbed species concentrations was verified by means of nonlinear regression analysis. The findings of this study can be further developed so as to serve environmental risk assessment concerning the expansion of a heavy metal contaminant plume with groundwater move ment in soil consisting of hydrated-oxide type minerals. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Biosorption of actinides from dilute waste actinide solution by egg-shell membrane

Removal of radioactive elements from the effluent and waste aqueous solutions is an important problem. In previous laboratory batch experiments, hen egg-shell membrane (ESM) was stable as an insoluble protein and was very capable of binding heavy metal ions from aqueous solution. Batch laboratory pH profile, time dependency, and capacity experiments were performed to determine the binding of uranium (U) and thorium (Th) to ESM. Batch pH profile experiments indicated that the optimum pH for binding these actinides was approx 6.0 (U) or 3.0 (Th). The adsorption isotherms were developed at pH 5.0 (U) or 3.0 (Th) at 25°C, and the adsorption equilibrium data fitted both Langmuir and Freundlich models. The maximum uptakes by the Langmuir model were about 240 mg U/g and 60 mg Th/g dry weight ESM. In addition, their adsorption capacities increased as salt concentration increased. ESM could also accumulate uranium from dilute aqueous solution by adjusting to the optimum pH. These results showed that ESM was effective for removing actinides from solution and would be useful in filtration technology to remove actinides from aqueous solution. S.-I. Ishikawa is a research fellow at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.     

土壤对外源钍的吸附行为表征

外源钍对土壤的污染风险和程度取决于钍在土壤中的吸附行为. 以包头稀土工业区土壤样品和土壤环境矿物组分为研究对象, 通过静态吸附方法研究外源钍在土壤样品和环境矿物组分(高岭土、蒙脱土、碳酸钙、水合氧化铁/锰和腐殖酸)上的吸附, 并对吸附行为进行了表征. 结果表明, 土壤样品对外源钍有很强的吸附能力, 对加入的外源钍(10^-4 mol/L)吸附率在97%以上; 土壤环境矿物组分对加入的外源钍(1 g/L)吸附率在28%～46%之间. 通过扫描电镜-能谱(SEM-EDS)分析可知, 外源钍进入土壤后与矿物组分发生相互作用, 可能形成了稳定化钙质钍碳酸盐和钍磷酸盐; 傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)分析表明, 钍是与土壤环境矿物组分上的活性吸附位点发生相互作用而吸附并保持在土壤中, 是物理吸附和化学吸附共同作用的过程; X射线衍射分析(XRD)表明, 土壤在吸附钍前后, 其矿物组分基本相同, 而矿物晶体相态发生明显变化. 由于不同土壤矿物组分对钍的吸附方式不同, 导致吸附的钍以不同形态存在于土壤中.     

Extrapolation studies on adsorption of thorium and uranium at different solution compositions on soil sediments

Study on adsorption of thorium and uranium radionuclides by a soil sediment as a function of ionic composition of Ca, Mg and Na has been carried out. Experimentally determined slopes represents an average of adsorption on soil sediments having different relative affinities for thorium, uranium, calcium and magnesium. Both thorium and uranium were found to be adsorbed to ion-exchange sites together with calcium and magnesium cations as effective competitors An extrapolated equation for the distribution coefficientK _d was formed for both radionuclides thorium and uranium at the specified site where the soil sediments were sampled. The combined cation concentration of both calcium and magnesium in solution correlates linearly with the measuredK _d ^Th,U values.     

烟酰胺腺嘌呤二核苷酸在纳米α-氧化铝上的吸附作用

用紫外-可见吸收光谱、X射线衍射、荧光光谱和衰减全反射傅里叶变换红外(ATR-FTIR）光谱等方法,研究了烟酰胺腺嘌呤二核苷酸(NAD+)在纳米α-Al2O3粒子上的吸附行为。 实验结果显示,NAD+的吸附量受pH值和离子强度影响较大,说明NAD+主要通过静电作用吸附在纳米α-Al2O3粒子上。 采用ATR-FTIR光谱分析了不同pH值溶液中及被吸附的NAD+,发现吸附后的NAD+与溶液中NAD+ 的ATR-FTIR光谱相似,但磷酸根的吸收峰向高波数位移,说明磷酸根参与了表面静电作用。 吸附过程符合Langmuir和Freundlich等温式。 荧光实验结果显示,随着吸附剂α-Al2O3用量的变化,NAD+构象也发生变化。     

Competitive adsorption of organic matter with phosphate on aluminum hydroxide

The effects of orthophosphate on the adsorption of natural organic matter (NOM) on aluminum hydroxide were investigated using three organic compounds as surrogates, including humic acid (HA), phthalic acid, and 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,3-DHBA). The adsorption of phthalic acid and 2,3-DHBA was very limited compared to that of HA, whereas their adsorption was reduced much more significantly than that of HA by phosphate. The efficiency of phosphate in reducing HA adsorption increased with increasing phosphate concentration. Phosphate adsorption was slightly reduced by phthalic acid and 2,3-DHBA but moderately suppressed by HA. The adjacent carboxylic groups mainly contributed to the adsorption of humic acid at low pH, while the adjacent phenol groups were responsible for the adsorption of humic acid at high pH. HPLC-SEC and SUVA analysis revealed that HA molecules with high molecular weight were adsorbed preferentially but were easily displaced by the specifically adsorbed phosphate. TM-AFM images revealed that the aggregation of HA molecules and the protonation of carboxylic groups at low pH facilitated the adsorption under acidic conditions. The presence of phosphate increases the coagulant dosage for NOM removal as some sites on the coagulant precipitates become utilized by phosphate.     

Simultaneous metal adsorption on tannin resins

Vegetable tannin sorbent is evaluated as ion exchange resin using a multitracer study on the adsorption behavior of various elements. Lisiloma latisiliqua L. tannins, polycondensated into spherical pellets were chosen as sorbent resin material. Sorption evaluation of Ce, Cu(II), U(VI), Eu, Fe(III), Th, Nd as representatives of different classes of metal ions were done at different pH values. The distribution ratio of the studied elements was calculated from laboratory experiments. Tannic ion exchange material shows excellent ability for actinides and rare earth elements adsorption from waters. Using radiotracers, the number of catechins subunits involve in each tannin-metal complex was determined.     

Adsorption of fluoride ions onto carbonaceous materials

The characteristics of fluoride ion adsorption onto carbonaceous materials were derived as adsorption isotherms at different temperatures and in different pH solutions. The fluoride ion was adsorbed into pores in carbonaceous materials produced from wood; the larger the specific surface area, the more fluoride ions adsorbed. Bone char was the most effective adsorbent. The composition of bone char includes calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, and so on. This suggests that the phosphate ion in bone char was exchanged with a fluoride ion. Moreover, the mechanism of fluoride ion adsorption onto bone char is clearly chemical in nature because the amount of fluoride ion adsorbed onto bone char increased with increasing temperature and decreasing pH. The amount of fluoride ion adsorbed onto bone char was also shown to depend on the concentration of sodium chloride in solution because of the "salting-out" effect. The adsorption of fluoride ion onto bone char is endothermic. Bone char can be utilized to remove fluoride ions from drinking water.     

The role of salts derived from benzilic acid and quinolines in the adsorption of some actinides Part I: Characterization of the adsorbers

The salt of the 8-hydroxyquinoline and benzilic (diphenylglycolic) acid was prepared and incorporated into active charcoal in order to have an adsorber able to concentrate actinides dispersed in natural waters before quantitative or radiochemical analysis. The formation and the characterization of this adsorber, (adsorber B), was compared with another system containing benzilic salt of the substituted quinoline, 2-methyl, 8-hydroxyquinoline, (adsorber R). The adsorption ability of the adsorbers B and R was compared with a third product (adsorber G), prepared by incorporating benzilic acid with d-glucosamine into the charcoal. In this case, d-glucosamine gives a better stability to the system, as otherwise the benzilic acid could partially be dissolved into the water system at equilibrium, during the adsorption experiments. The dissociation acid constants of all the considered components were measured, in order to have some information on the adsorption mechanism. The compound formed during the adsorption on the prepared adsorbers with uranium, thorium, and samarium were separately analyzed and identified by means of IR and NMR. The role of the components in the adsorption was evidenced. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

ATR-FTIR investigation on the complexation of myo-inositol hexaphosphate with aluminum hydroxide

The adsorption isotherm of and the pH effect on the adsorption of myo-inositol hexaphosphate (myo-IP6) on amorphous aluminum hydroxide was investigated. It was found that the adsorption isotherm of myo-IP6 on aluminum hydroxide could be well fitted with the Freundlich isotherm. The amount of myo-IP6 adsorbed remained almost constant in the range of pH 4.0 to 7.0, but it decreased considerably as the initial pH was over 7. The adsorption of myo-IP6 resulted in an increase in the pH level due to the release of OH(-) ions, which suggested that the adsorption of myo-IP6 on aluminum hydroxide was caused by a ligand exchange reaction. ATR-FTIR analysis of myo-IP6 in solution and adsorbed on aluminum hydroxide at different pH were performed. The ATR-FTIR investigation indicated that myo-IP6 was adsorbed onto aluminum hydroxide by forming inner-sphere complexes and adsorption facilitated the deprotonation of phosphate groups. The asymmetric vibration of the PO bond in AlPO(-)(3) appearing at a lower frequency than that in the terminal HPO(-)(3) indicated that Al bound to the O atom not as strongly as the H atom did. The ATR-FTIR investigation and theoretical calculation (with the Gaussian 03 program) revealed that three of the six phosphate groups in myo-IP6 molecules were bound to aluminum hydroxide while the other three remained free when myo-IP6 was adsorbed on aluminum hydroxide.     

Separation of zirconium and hafnium from early actinides and rare earth elements with eichrom’s pb resin in HCl

The separation of zirconium and hafnium isotopes from the early actinides and rare earth elements (REE) with Eichrom’s Pb resin has been studied. Batch studies were performed to characterize the behavior of actinium, thorium, zirconium, hafnium, lutetium, and yttrium on Pb resin from HCl solutions (0.001 M to 11 M). The early actinides and REE had no affinity for the resin at any concentration of HCl, but zirconium and hafnium showed a moderate uptake at high concentrations of HCl with a maximum extraction at 11 M HCl. Several column separations were tested, including with only tracer isotopes and with mass. Rapid, simple separations of zirconium from actinium, thorium, protactinium, and the REE with high yields and low elution volumes are presented with applications for tracer isotope production and fission product separations. The resin is less suitable for hafnium separations as hafnium tends to bleed off the resin even at high concentrations of HCl.

     

Adsorption of guar gum onto quartz from dilute mixed electrolyte solutions

The effect of potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and hydrogen cations on adsorption of guar gum onto quartz was investigated at natural pH. The role of the background ions was analyzed in terms of their water-structure making or breaking capabilities. In dilute solutions (0.01 mol/L) of structure-makers (NaCl, HCl, CaCl2, and MgCl2), the guar gum adsorption density did not change compared to the adsorption densities obtained in distilled water. Potassium, the only structure-breaking ion (chaotrope) among the tested cations, significantly enhanced guar gum adsorption. The results obtained in mixed electrolytes demonstrate that the strong structure-breaking properties of K+ overcome any contributions from weak structure making ions (kosmotropes), and guar gum adsorption remains at the levels observed in KCl alone. Only when strongly hydrated Mg2+ ions are mixed with KCl, the overall effect becomes additive and the influence of potassium is proportionally reduced by increasing concentrations of magnesium cations. In this approach, guar gum adsorption on quartz is viewed as a competition between polysaccharide and water molecules for silanol surface sites. The hydration of the quartz surface inhibits the adsorption process but the competition equilibrium, and hence polysaccharide adsorption, can be affected by the presence of chaotropes or kosmotropes.     

Adsorption behaviour of some actinides on zirconium phosphate stability constant determinations

The adsorption behaviour of thorium, protactinium, uranium, neptonium and plutonium on zirconium phosphate from nitric acid and ammonium nitrate solutions was investigated. Partition data from the mentioned media together with that from chloride solutions were used to calculate formation constants for the concerned elements in the range of Cl⁻ and NO ₃ ⁻ activities <1M. Obtained β values were compared with those reported in the literature and indicated reasonable agreement.     

Adsorption mechanism of polylysine on hydroxyapatite and its effect on dissolution properties of hydroxyapatite

Adsorbed amounts of poly-l-lysine (pLys) and bromide ion on hydroxyapatite (HAp) from aqueous solutions of poly-l-lysine hydrobromide, and amounts of calcium and phosphate ions liberated concurrently from HAp during the adsorption of pLys were determined at 25 degrees . The pLys was adsorbed on HAp by the mechanism of ion-exchange between its amino groups and calcium ions of HAp. The released amount of calcium ion increased, therefore, with the adsorbed amount of pLys. On the other hand, the released amount of phosphate ion first decreased and then increased after attaining a minimum with the equilibrium concentration of pLys. The analysis using an equilibrium dialysis method revealed that the released phosphate ions were mainly in the bound state to the amino groups of pLys remaining in the solution, and that the concentrations of calcium and phosphate ions free from both HAp and pLys were restricted by each other under the law of the solubility product of HAp. The first decrease in the released amount of phosphate ion was concluded to be attributed primarily to the increase in the released amount of calcium ion because pLys remaining in the solution was little in this region. When sodium hydroxide was added to the solution, the adsorbed amount of pLys increased and then slightly decreased with the equilibrium pH of the solution due to the increase or decrease of the electrostatic attractive force between the adsorbate and the adsorbent. However, conformational change in pLys around pH 10 seemed to have little effect on the adsorption.     

Selective adsorption of thorium on activated charcoal from electrolytic aqueous solution

The adsorption of thorium on activated charcoal has been studied as a function of shaking time, amount of adsorbent, pH, concentration of adsorbate and temperature. Adsorption of thorium obeys the Langmuir isotherm. H⁰ and S⁰ were calculated from the slope and intercept of ln K_D vs. 1/T plots. The influence of different anions and cations on thorium adsorption has been examined. The adsorption of other metal ions on activated charcoal has been studied under specified conditions to check its selectivity. Consequently, thorium was removed from Cs, Co, Ba, Cr, Sr, Cd, Cu, Mn and Zn. More than 98% adsorbed thorium on activated charcoal can be recovered with 55 ml 3M HNO₃ solution. Wavelength dispersive X-rays fluorescence spectrometer was used for measuring thorium concentration.     

Use of tetracycline as complexing agent in radiochemical separations

The use of the antibiotic agent tetracycline for analytical purposes in solvent extraction procedures is presented. Individual extraction curves for the lanthanides, zinc, scandium, uranium, thorium, neptunium and protactinium were obtained. Separation of those elements one from another, and of uranium from selenium, bromine, antimony, barium, tantalum and tungsten was carried out. In all cases benzyl alcohol was the diluent used to dissolve tetracycline hydrochloride. Sodium chloride was used as supporting electrolyte for the lanthanide separations and sodium perchlorate for the other elements mentioned. Stability or formation constants for the lanthanide complexes as well as for thorium complex with tetracycline were determined by using the methods of average number of ligands, the limiting value (for thorium), the two parameters and the weighted least squares. For the lanthanides, the stability constants of the complexes Ln(TC)₃ go from 9.35±0.22 for lanthanum up to 10.84±0.11 for lutetium. For the Th(TC)₄ complex the formation constant is equal to 24.6±0.3. Radioisotopes of the respective elements were used for the determinations. When more than one radioelement was present in an experiment, a multichannel analyser coupled to Ge(Li) or NaI(Tl) detectors was used for counting the activities. When only one radioisotope was used, counting of the radioisotopes was made with a single-channel analyser (integral mode counting) coupled to a NaI(Tl) detector. Uranium was determined by activation analysis (epithermal neutrons). Radioisotopes of the elements were obtained by irradiation in the IPEN swimming-pool reactor. The natural radioisotope^{2 3 4}Th was used as label in the thorium experiments. In some separation procedures such as in the case of the pair uranium-neptunium, and of the pair scandium-zinc, the separation was obtained by properly adjusting the pH value of the aqueous phases, before the extraction operation. In other cases, addition of masking agents to the extraction system was required in order to perform the separation between the elements under study. In this way ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) was used as masking agent for scandium and the lanthanides in order to allow separation of uranium from those elements. Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) was used as masking agent for thorium in order to extract uranium into the organic phase. Separations of protactinium from thorium, and of uranium from protactinium and thorium, were accomplished by using sodium fluoride as masking agent for protactinium and DPTA as masking agent for thorium and protactinium at the same time. In the case of the separation of the lanthanides one from another it is necessary to resort to a multi-stage extraction procedure since the stability constants for those elements are too close.     

Spectrophotometric determination of vanadium in natural waters and rocks after selective adsorption on sephadex gel

Vanadium(V) ions are strongly adsorbed on Sephadex G-25 gel at pH 4.2, and are desorbed reversibly into 0.1 M acids. Vanadium present in rocks and in natural waters at μg l⁻¹ levels can be separated and concentrated by means of a gel column at pH 6 (in order to avoid the interference of molybdenum(VI)) and determined spectrophotometrically with 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol. Interference by iron(III) can be suppressed by adding copper(II)—CyDTA. Large amounts of sodium chloride and potassium nitrate have little effect on the adsorption.     

Comparison studies adsorption of thorium and uranium on pure clay minerals and local Malaysian soil sediments

Adsorption studies of thorium and uranium radionuclides on 9 different pure clay minerals and 4 local Malaysian soil sediments were conducted. Solution containing dissolved thorium and uranium at pH 4.90 was prepared from concentrate sludges from a long term storage facility at a local mineral processing plant. The sludges are considered as low level radioactive wastes. The results indicated that the 9 clay minerals adsorbed more uranium than thorium at pH ranges from 3.74 to 5.74. Two local Malaysian soils were observed to adsorb relatively high concentration of both radionuclides at pH 3.79 to 3.91. The adsorption value 23.27 to 27.04 ppm for uranium and 33.1 to 50.18 ppm for thorium indicated that both soil sediments can be considered as potential enhanced barrier material for sites disposing conditioned wastes containing uranium and thorium.