Application of Titanium Dioxide for Zirconium Ions Adsorption and Separation from a Multicomponent Mixture

This work studies the adsorption of zirconium ions by the mesoporous titanium dioxide and by sodium-modified mesoporous titanium dioxide. Experimental maximal adsorption values of zirconium ions by H-TiO2 and Na-TiO2 were found to be 64 mg/g and 109.5 mg/g respectively. This process depends on the interaction time, the equilibrium concentration of zirconium ions, and the acidity of the solution. Adsorption kinetics fit well into the diffusion kinetic model and indicate several stages of zirconium ions adsorption. Equilibrium adsorption of zirconium ions is well described by Langmuir's adsorption theory for both adsorbents. The results obtained by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry showed that the investigated adsorbent selectively adsorb zirconium ions from the mixture with strontium and yttrium ions in the range of solution pH = 0 - 1. The percentage of maximum extraction of zirconium ions is 86.61 % for H-TiO2 and 94.11 % for Na-TiO2. This fact is extremely valuable for nuclear forensics or the determination of Sr-90 in low activity background samples.