Clinoptilolite nano-crystal; its application for adsorbent-separation of thorium and lanthanide ions

This communication concerns on the application of clinoptilolite nano-crystal as sorbent for removing La(III), Eu(III), Er(III) and Th(IV) ions from aqueoussolutions. The effect of parameters affecting the adsorption process like aqueous solution pH, contact time, mass of adsorbent and concentration ofadsorbate are studied and discussed. A 0.15 g of the adsorbent in a 20 mL of water sample containing Th(IV), La(III), Eu(III) and Er (III) (initialconcentration 20 mgL-1) at pH=4 can remove quantitatively Er(III) and Th(IV) ions, and at pH=5 La(III) and Eu(III) ions, after 60 min magneticallystirring of the solution. The highly efficient uptake percentage of studied ions by clinoptilolite allowsusing the presented system as a technique forremoval of actinide and lanthanide ions from some aqueous phase samples.