Cellulose acetate/EDTA-chelator assisted synthesis of ordered mesoporous HAp microspheres for efficient removal of radioactive species from seawater

High exposure to radioactive metal ions, such as uranium (U-(VI) ) and cesium (Cs-(I)), potentially has adverse effects and can cause severe health problems leading to a number of specific diseases. This study primarily aims to facile synthesis self-functionalized mesoporous ion-exchanger for the removal of trace concentrations of radioactive ions from water in an efficient way. The fabricated mesoporous flaky flower-like hydroxyapatite ion-exchanger (MFF-HAp) with its 3D hexagonal mesopore structure has advantages of high surface area, natural surfaces, and active acid sites can strongly induce ion-exchange with uranyl and cesium ions. It was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, N-2 adsorption/desorption and thermal analysis (TGA/DTA). From the engineering point of view, it offers a simple and one-step capture procedure for the decontamination of Cs-(I) and U-(VI) from their solutions. The interesting findings in this study are the ion-selectivity exhibited by MFF-Hap toward the target U-(vI) and Cs-(I) ions in environmental and nuclear waste disposal samples, and its reproducibility/durability over a number of regeneration cycles. These unique properties of MFF-HAp ion-exchanger render it as promising durable material for efficient radioactive species accommodation.