title: Adsorption-induced crystallization of U-rich nanocrystals on nano-Mg(OH)(2) and the aqueous uranyl enrichment.
abstract: The mechanism of the interaction between nano-Mg(OH)2 adsorbent and uranyl in water was studied. At trace levels, the uranyl is adsorbed as a monolayer on nano-Mg(OH)2, and occupied a small proportion of the adsorption sites. As the uranyl concentration crosses over a threshold, continuous increase of adsorption capacity takes place. It indicates that, by taking the pre-adsorbed uranyl as the nucleation centers, the additional uranyl crystallizes and forms U-rich nanocrystals well-scattered on the surface of nano-Mg(OH)2. A strategy of inducing fast crystal growth of nano-Mg(OH)2 to micrometer-sized Na2Mg(CO3)2 enables the desorption and enrichment of uranyl. The recycling and reuse of nano-Mg(OH)2 can be achieved simultaneously. The finding in this work provides fundamental understanding of the efficient usage of nano-Mg(OH)2 in practical applications.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Fuzhou, Fujian, 350002, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zanyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Xiong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Zhang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin