A chemically modified silica-gel as an ion exchange resin for pre-concentration of actinides and lanthanides

Ethylene-di-amine-tri-acetate was covalently bound to a Silica-gel matrix (ED3A-SG). The resin thus obtained was examined as a possible Ion Exchange Resin for pre-concentration of actinides and lanthanides. ED3A-SG was prepared by reacting Sodium N-(tri-methoxy-silyl-propyl)-ethylene-di-amine-tri-acetate (ED3A-Silane coupler) with silica-gel. The porosity of the system was measured using BET analysis. The capacity of the resin was measured by two techniques: a. Determination of the carbon content of the Resin using Carbon Sulfur Analyzer (CS Analyzer). b. Saturating the Resin with nickel ions and determining their amount by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES). The behavior of the ED3A-SG resin as function of pH was measured by determining the recovery value of cations solutions buffered at different pH values. The molecular structure of the resin was examined by ¹³C NMR and ²⁹Si NMR.