Hexagonal Cylinder Mesoporous Sorbent for Separation of Uranium Ions from Nitrate Media

The synthesis of mesoporous silica monoliths-based phosphonate groups (SiO2-DPTS) through immobilization of diethylphosphatoethyltriethoxysilane using the post-grafting approach to be applied as a sensitive sorbent for selective separation of U(IV) ions from aqueous solutions is described. The designed SiO2-DPTS sorbent was characterized by Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, N-2 adsorption-desorption, and elemental analysis. The adsorption process was studied under different experimental conditions of pH, concentration, and time. The mechanism of interaction of SiO2-DPTS with U(VI) ions was explored and supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. This synthesized sorbent allows highly efficient extraction of U(IV) ions from uranyl leach liquor.