Characterization of uranium antimonite ion exchanger

Uranium antimonate (USb) has been prepared and characterized by various analytical techniques such as TG-DTA, EDXRF, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and FT-IR spectroscopy. The precipitation reaction of potassium pyroantimonate (KSb(OH)6) with uranyl nitrate results in the formation of amorphous USb with U/Sb mole ratio of 0.35, which crystallises at temperature above 900 °C, leading to the formation of USb3O10. The amorphous form and heat treated uranium antimonate exhibits ion exchange with some fission products like 137Cs+, 90Sr2+ and 154Eu3+ due to the presence of surface hydroxyl groups and the distribution coefficient (Kd, mL/g) decreases with heat treatment. Thermal analysis of USb indicated the loss of surface hydroxyl groups due to the condensation reaction is responsible for the decrease in Kd values after heat treatment. Based on the analytical and sorption data on uranium antimonate a molecular formula of HUO2Sb3O4(OH)10·4.7 H2O has been arrived.