Removal of 63 Ni and 57 Co from aqueous solution using antimony doped tin dioxide-polyacrylonitrile (Sb doped SnO 2 -PAN) composite ion-exchangers

Tin dioxide and its antimony doped counterpart were synthesized using traditional sol-gel procedure. The metal oxides were then turned into composites by mixing them with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and composite spheres ready for use in traditional column applications were obtained. The characterization of materials was investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray, surface area, point of zero charge and thermal analyses. Static batch experiments showed that the antimony doped tin dioxide-PAN (Sb doped SnO 2 -PAN) is an effective material for nickel removal and the composite maintains its good metal uptake properties in dynamic column conditions. The composite showed a high nickel uptake capacity of 9 mmol/g in 0.1 M NaNO 3 solution. It was observed that the ion exchange kinetics of antimony doped tin dioxide (Sb doped SnO 2 ) was remarkably fast for 57 Co and 63 Ni ions but turning the material into PAN composite significantly decreased the materials kinetic properties. © 2013 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.