ASIPP Develops High Re-Gathering ZrO2@rGO Composite Sorbent

ASIPP scientists develop the high performance ZrO2@rGO composite sorbent which can gather Re(VII) under the experimental conditions. 

With large specific surface area, uniform pore diameter and acidic alkaline surface center,  Zirconium dioxid (ZrO2) can easily produce oxygen vacancies, implying a good adsorption performance and broad application prospect in wastewater treatment.  

According to the density functional theory calculations, Changlun Chen team in ASIPP found the adsorption energy between Re(VII) and tetragonal ZrO2 was higher and more stable than monoclinic ZrO2. Through archoring zirconium dioxide nanoparticles onto reduced graphene oxides, most of the ZrO2 were transformed from monoclinic crystal to tetragonal crystal. And zirconium oxide and reduced graphene oxides form coordination enrichment effect, thus the enrichment capability of ZrO2@rGO composites towards Re (VII) was enhanced. 

It is well known that Re and Tc belong to the same subgroup B(VIIB). Tc(VII) has almost the same chemical properties as Re(VII). Therefore, nonradioactive Re(VII) is usually used to simulate the physicochemical behavior of radioactive Tc(VII). This study implies that the hybrid material of ZrO2@rGO can be regarded as a potential sorbent to remove and enrich Te(VII) from large volumes of aqueous solutions and then control radioactivity Tc (VII) pollution. 

The relevant result was published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b02317) under the heading of “Interaction Mechanism of Re(VII) with Zirconium Dioxide Nanoparticles Archored onto Reduced Graphene Oxides”. (WANG Ying reports).