Cerium oxide‑cadmium oxide nanomaterial as efficient extractant for yttrium ions

The present study describes a developed methodology for selective extraction of yttrium ions based on cerium oxide‑cadmium oxide (CeO2‑CdO) nanomaterials. The elaborated characterization of CeO2‑CdO nanomaterial was provided by SEM, EDS, XRD, XPS and FTIR techniques. CeO2‑CdO nanomaterial was employed as solid-phase extractant for heavy metal ions from aqueous media. Based on the results, CeO2‑CdO nanomaterial exhibited high selectivity for Y(III) with a maximum uptake capacity of 84.67 mg g−1 at pH 6.0. Adsorption isotherm data were well-correlated with Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order models. Yttrium ions were easily recovered from CeO2‑CdO nanomaterial using 0.3 M HCl solution, and the adsorbent showed high stability for reusing several times. Ultimately, the developed methodology was successfully applied for real water specimens.