Highly efficient and selective cesium recovery from natural brine resources using mesoporous Prussian blue analogs synthesized by ionic liquid-assisted strategy

The selective and efficient cesium recovery from natural brines resources is a significant and challenging issue. Here we reported a green method for the facile construction of mesoporous Prussian blue analogs (PB) through an ionic liquid-assisted strategy and used for cesium recovery from salt lake brines and geothermal water. The unique nanostructures endowed this mesoporous PB with the improved cesium adsorption capacity (548.7 mg/g), which was 1.5-times as that of conventional PB (362.8 mg/g), placing it at the top level of cesium adsorbents. The adsorption experiments in salt lake brines and geothermal water were conducted and the adsorption efficiency of Cs+ exceeded 90%, while those for other co-existing cations were <4.2%, demonstrating its favorable selectivity in cesium recovery from multicomponent aqueous solutions. The benign adsorption performance and adsorption-desorption stability make it a potential candidate for the sustainable recovery of cesium from different kinds of Cs-containing water resources.