BARC/PUB/2012/1213

 
 

Sorption of Eu(III) by amorphous titania, anatase and rutile

 
     
 
Author(s)

Kasar, S.; Kumar, S.; Kar, A.; Krishnan, K.; Kulkarni, N. K.; Tomar, B. S.
(RACD;FCD)

Source

Journal of Radioanalytical & Nuclear Chemistry, 2012. Vol. 294 (1): pp. 103-107

ABSTRACT

Sorption of Eu(III), an analogue of trivalent actinides (Am, Cm), by amorphous titania as well as different crystalline phases of titania, namely anatase and rutile, have been studied as a function of pH, using 154Eu (half life = 8.8 yrs, Ec = 123,247 keV) as a radiotracer. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of the crystalline phase of the titania on their sorption behaviour towards the metal ion. Amorphous titania was prepared by organic route and was converted into anatase and rutile by heating at elevated temperatures based on the differential thermal analysis studies. Eu(III) sorption by all forms of titania rises sharply with the pH of the suspension, with the sorption edge shifting to higher value in the order; amorphousanatase utile. However, the normalization of the sorption data to the surface area of the sorbents resulted in the overlapping of the sorption curves for amorphous and anatase phases, with the data being higher for rutle in the lower pH region, indicating the effect of the crystal phase on sorption behaviour of Eu(III).

 
 
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