Synthesis and Adsorption Behavior of Microporous Iron-Doped Sodium Zirconosilicate with the Structure of Elpidite

• Main Author: Emad Elshehy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
• Series: Surfaces
• Subjects: zirconosilicates; zeolite structure; microporous materials; nanocomposite; cesium removal
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9637/4/1/7

Decontamination of water from radionuclides contaminants is a key priority in environmental cleanup and requires intensive effort to be cleared. In this paper, a microporous iron-doped zeolite-like sodium zirconosilicate (F@SZS) was designed through hydrothermal synthesis with various Si/Zr ratios of 5, 10, and 20, respectively. The synthesized materials of F@SZS materials were well characterized by various techniques such as XRD, SEM, TEM, and N₂ adsorption–desorption measurements. Furthermore, the F@SZS-5 and F@SZS-10 samples had a crystalline structure related to the Zr–O–Si bond, unlike the F@SZS-20 which had an overall amorphous structure. The fabricated F@SZS-5 nanocomposite showed a superb capability to remove cesium ions from ultra-dilute concentrations, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 21.5 mg g^–1 at natural pH values through an ion exchange mechanism. The results of cesium ions adsorption were found to follow the pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm model. The microporous iron-doped sodium zirconosilicate is described as an adsorbent candidate for the removal of ultra-traces concentrations of Cs(I) ions.