Factors affecting the sorption of Eu(III) on modified silica gel

8-Hydroxyquinoline in benzene, xylene, chloroform and toluene diluents was used to modify silica gel as a solid phase extractant (SPE) for the sorption of Eu(III) in batch extraction techniques. Influences of solid/liquid ratio, pH, metal ion concentration, particle size and temperature were studied. The optimum initial pH is 4.2, while the maximum sorption capacities for the prepared impregnated resins in benzene, xylene, chloroform and toluene diluents are 18.52, 14.98, 14.79 and 5.94 mg . g-1, respectively. The sorption process is found to be affected by both metal ion concentration and particle size of the impregnated resin. Thermodynamic parameters for the sorption of Eu(III) were determined and the reaction is found to be exothermic and spontaneous with enthalpy-14.23 and-23.71 kJ . mol-1 for benzene and xylene as diluents. Release of the element from the loaded solid particles into 0.01M HNO3 is@85% and@53% from 8-HQ/benzene/silica gel and 8-HQ/xylene/silica gel.