Lanthanide separation by functionalized mesoporous silica-transportation and coordination

Awual, M. R.; Kobayashi, Toru ; Shiwaku, Hideaki   ; Miyazaki, Yuji; Motokawa, Ryuhei   ; Suzuki, Shinichi; Okamoto, Yoshihiro  ; Yaita, Tsuyoshi

A novel separation material for lanthanide was designed using O and N donor ligand immobilized mesoporous silica. The specific lanthanide transportation based on solution pH, sorption capacity, and recovery by stripping agents was performed. The interaction mechanism and lanthanide coordination after adsorption of specific Ln at the solid interface have been studied by EXAFS. The proposed materials possessed sufficient loading and releasing capacities for specific lanthanide in repeated processes after sorption-recovery operations. The successful development of potential materials can serve as promising applications and time- and cost-effective tool for selective lanthanide sorption and recovery in separation technologies on an industrial scale.