Rapid room-temperature preparation of hierarchically porous metal–organic frameworks for efficient uranium removal from aqueous solutions

Chongxiong Duan, Yi Zhang, Jiexin Li, Le Kang, Yawei Xie, Wenxiong Qiao, Chunxia Zhu, Haochuan Luo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

The effective removal of uranium from an aqueous solution is a highly valuable process for the environment and health. In this study, we developed a facile and rapid method to synthesize hierarchically porous Cu-BTC (RT-Cu-BTC) using a cooperative template strategy. The as-synthesized RT-Cu-BTC exhibited hierarchically porous structure and excellent thermostability, as revealed by X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Compared with conventional metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and zeolites, the obtained RT-Cu-BTC exhibited enhanced adsorption capacity (839.7 mg·g−1 ) and high removal efficiency (99.8%) in the capture of uranium (VI) from aqueous solutions. Furthermore, the conditions such as adsorbent dose, contact time, and temperature in adsorption of uranium (VI) by RT-Cu-BTC were investigated in detail. The thermodynamics data demonstrated the spontaneous and endothermic nature of the uranium (VI) adsorption process. The Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order models could better reflect the adsorption process of uranium (VI) onto RT-Cu-BTC. In addition, the as-synthesized RT-Cu-BTC showed excellent stability in removing uranium (VI) from an aqueous solution. This work provides a facile and rapid approach for fabricating hierarchically porous MOFs to realize a highly efficient removal of uranium (VI) from aqueous systems.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1539
Pages (from-to)1-13
Number of pages13
JournalNanomaterials
Volume10
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2020

Keywords

  • Enhanced adsorption capacity
  • Facile synthesis
  • Hierarchically porous Cu-BTC
  • Uranium (VI) removal

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