Theoretical Investigation of Competitive Adsorption of Light and Heavy Rare Earth Ions on the (001) Surface of Kaolinite.

ABSTRACT: Kaolinite is the primary mineral in ion-adsorption rare earth ores, and improving our understanding of the adsorption state of REEs on kaolinite will benefit efforts to leach REEs from these ores. In order to explain why Eu³⁺ ions exhibit stronger pH-dependent desorption behavior than Lu³⁺, molecular dynamics simulations were applied to investigate the adsorption mechanism of Eu³⁺ and Lu³⁺ on a deprotonated kaolinite (001) surface. The simulation results show that the hydration numbers of Eu³⁺ and Lu³⁺ are comparable, whereas the ordering degree of water molecules around Eu³⁺ is higher than that of Lu³⁺, which is beneficial to the movement of Eu³⁺ to preferentially occupy favorable adsorption

SUBMITTER: Qiu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11858435 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature