engleski

Sorption of Eu(III) onto Titanium Dioxide : Measurements and Modeling

Sorption of europium (and whenever more appropriate lutetium) onto titanium dioxide (P-25, Degussa, a mixture of anatase and rutile) from aqueous solution was studied as a function of pH, ionic strength and trivalent metal ion concentration. An acid base model for the titanium dioxide surface was determined from potentiometric titrations and zeta-potential measurements. The common intersection point of potentiometric titrations coincided with the isoelectric point from electrokinetic experiments, resulting in a pristine point of zero charge of about 6.1. The experimental data were in agreement with previously published results and a previously published MUSIC-type model was used as the basis to model the acid-base behaviour. Comparison of europium and lutetium showed no difference in the adsorption behaviour. Furthermore, no difference was observed both in uptake and spectroscopic studies whether carbonate was absent or present. The absence of a noticeable effect of the ionic strength on the adsorption behavior was indicative of strong binding. EXAFS revealed rough conservation of the coordination with 9-8 water and surface hydroxyl groups upon sorption. EXAFS results suggested the existence of different metal-oxygen distances, more varied than that observed for the respective aquo complex and thus indicative for inner-sphere surface complexation. A clear differentiation of surface complexation denticity was not possible based on spectroscopic data. A multisite surface complexation model approach was applied by assuming monodentate and multidentate binding to describe the trivalent metal uptake data. It is conceivable that mono- and multidentate species contribute to lanthanide sorption to titanium dioxide. In other words a distribution of states occurs in cation surface complexation reactions.

europium; lutetium; titanium dioxide; sorption; surface complexation models; EXAFS

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