Phosphoryl functionalized mesoporous silica for uranium adsorption

Abstract Phosphoryl functionalized mesoporous silica (TBP-SBA-15) was synthesized by modified mesoporous silica with γ-amino propyl triethoxy silane and tributyl phosphate. The obtained samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), small angle X-ray diffraction (SAXRD), thermo-gravimetric/differential thermalanalyzer (TG/DTA), N2 adsorption–desorption (BET) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques. Results showed that TBP-SBA-15 had large surface areas with ordered channel structure. Moreover, the effects of adsorption time, sorbent dose, solution pH, initial uranium concentration and temperature on the uranium adsorption behaviors were investigated. TBP-SBA-15 showed a high uranium adsorption capacity in a broad range of pH values. The U(VI) adsorption rate of TBP-SBA-15 was fast and nearly achieved completion in 10 min with the sorbent dose of 1 g/L. The U(VI) adsorption of TBP-SBA-15 followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Freundlich isotherm model, indicating that the process was belonged to chemical adsorption. Furthermore, the thermodynamic parameters (ΔG0, ΔH0 and ΔS0) confirmed that the adsorption process was endothermic and spontaneous.