| Affiliation: | (1) Department of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, 430074 Wuhan, China;(2) Northeastern Illinois University, 60625 Chicago, IL, USA;(3) China Institute of Geo-Environmental Monitoring, 100081 Beijing, China;(4) Division of Chemistry, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 87544 Los Alamos, NM, USA |
| Abstract: | The sorption of Eu species onto nano-size silica-water interfaces is investigated at pH range of 1―8.5 and the initial Eu concentrations (CEu) of 2×10−5, 2×10−4 and 2×10−3 M using fluorescence spectroscopy. The sorption rate of Eu is initially low, but significantly increases at pH > 4. For the initial CEu of 2×10−5, 2×10−4 and 2×10−3 M, the dissolved Eu species are completely sorbed onto silica-water interfaces at pH = 4.75, −5.8 and 6.6, respectively, with the respective sorption densities of −1.58×10−8, 1.58×10−7 and 1.58×10−6 mol/m2. The sorbed Eu species at pH < 6 is aquo Eu3+, which is sorbed onto silica-water interfaces as an outer-sphere complex at pH < 5, but may be sorbed as an inner-sphere bidentate complex at 5 < pH < 6, due to the decrease of the NH2O to −6 at pH = 6. At pH = 6 – 8, Eu(OH)2+, Eu(CO3)+and Eu(CO3)2 − form in the solutions, and Eu(CO3)+is dominant at pH = −7.5. These ions may be sorbed onto silica-water interfaces as inner-sphere bidentate complexes or multi-nuclear pre-cipitates. |
