Study on size dependent ion exchange property of nanosilica as green inorganic exchanger in radiochemical separation

Silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) of different sizes were synthesized using different concentration of precursor material tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS). The structural and morphological details of the material were obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The SEM study was followed by energy dispersive spectroscopic analysis (EDS) for elemental analysis of the sample. The particle sizes were determined by dynamic light scattering (DLS) method. Ion exchange capacity was measured for different metal ions with sizes of the SiNPs and size-dependent ion exchange property of the material was investigated thoroughly. The nanomaterial of the smallest size of around 13.54 nm was used to separate carrier-free Y-90 from Sr-90 in column chromatographic technique using 1% aqueous EDTA as eluting agent at pH 6.