Novel inorganic ion exchange materials based on silicates; synthesis, structure and analytical applications of magneso-silicate and magnesium alumino-silicate sorbents.

Two novel inorganic ion exchange materials magneso-silicate and magnesium alumino-silicate have been synthesized under identical conditions. The structure of these materials was established by chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, thermogravemetric and differential thermal analyses, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence analysis. Magneso-silicate and magnesium alumino-silicate were found to have the formulas MgSi(5.59)O(12.18).5.93H(2)O and MgAl(2.32)Si(5.2)O(14.88).18.23H(2)O, respectively. The structure of both sorbents was arranged and predict according to the ChemDraw Ultra program. The ion exchange capacities of these materials for some radionuclides and heavy metals Cs(+), Co(2+), Cd(2+), Zn(2+) and Cu(2+) were investigated and the data obtained showed that magnesium alumino-silicate has a higher capacity for these cations compared to magneso-silicate. Distribution coefficients in nitric acid medium have been evaluated to explore the separation potentiality of magneso-silicate and magnesium alumino-silicate for Cs(+), Co(2+), Cd(2+), Cu(2+), Zn(2+) and Fe(3+) ions. Sorption isotherms for all cations were investigated and the data showed the applicability of Freundlich isotherm for all cases.