Publications by authors named "Yilai Zhong"

Article Synopsis
  • Zirconium is a common impurity in the purification of scandium, complicating the separation process due to its similar chemical properties.
  • This study explored the use of trialkyl phosphine oxide (TRPO) with a new extraction resin called SiO-P, which showed improved separation capabilities in acidic solutions.
  • The findings indicated that the adsorption of zirconium was a spontaneous endothermic reaction, allowing for high purity levels of scandium (up to 99.99%) post-separation through column experiments.
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Radioactive strontium (Sr) is considered as one of the most dangerous radionuclides due to its high biochemical toxicity. For the efficient and selective separation of Sr from acidic environments, a novel functional adsorbent CEPA@SBA-15-APTES was prepared in this work through the phosphorylation of amino-modified mesoporous silica with organic content of approximately 20 wt%. CEPA@SBA-15-APTES was characterized by TEM, SEM, EDS, TG-DSC, BET, FTIR, and XPS techniques, revealing its characteristics of an ordered hexagonal lattice-like structure and rich functional groups.

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The recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) including neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy) from NdFeB permanent magnets has become one of the main ways to solve the increased demand for rare earth. Herein, n-dodecyl phosphate (DPPA) was used for the first time as the adsorption functional group donor, sodium alginate as the substrate, and calcium chloride solution as the reactive solvent, a hybrid hydrogel adsorbent DPPA/CaALG was synthesized by sol-gel method for application in the adsorption and separation of Nd and Dy from the Co-Nd-Dy ternary system. SEM-EDS, and N adsorption-desorption analysis showed the successful preparation of DDPA/CaALG with mesoporous structure.

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Accurate separation and efficient recovery of platinum group metals (PGMs, mainly Ru, Rh and Pd) from high level liquid waste (HLLW) is a good choice for clean production and sustainable development of nuclear energy. Herein a novel SDB polymer modified silica-based amine-functionalized composite (dNbpy/SiO-P) was synthesized for the separation and recovery of PGMs. Laser particle size analysis and BET results clarified the regular spherical and highly interconnected mesoporous structure of dNbpy/SiO-P which is critical for the separation of PGMs.

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