Researchers from the Department of Chemistry Karla Korade, Ivan Nemet and Davor Kovačević in collaboration with and a former researcher of the Department of Chemistry Atiđa Selmani (currently at University of Graz), a former student of the Department of Chemistry Mario Špadina (SeaCras), a researcher from the Institute of Physics Borna Radatović and collaborators from Slovenia (Goran Dražić and Klemen Bohinc) and France (Bertrand Siboulet, Yann Foucaud and Jean-François Dufrêche) have published the scientific publication Cation Adsorption in TiO2 Nanotubes: Implication for Water Decontamination in the prestigious ACS Applied Nano Materials (IF 5,9).
In the published paper, TiO2 nanotubes, a very promising nanomaterial for water decontamination by the removal of cations, were investigated. A wide range of experimental techniques, from structural analyses to measurements of the properties of aqueous suspensions of nanotubes, was combined with theoretical approach with the aim to assess the adsorption of Cs+ on TiO2 nanotubes and to predict the separation of metal ions. The mesoscopic model, based on the Poisson−Boltzmann equation and surface adsorption equilibrium, predicts that H+ ions are the charge-determining ions, while Cs+ ions are in the diffuse layer with a significant contribution only at high concentrations and high pH. The effect of the size of nanotubes in terms of the polydispersity and the distribution is shown to be very small when the nanotube layer is not very thick (ranging from 1 to 2 nm). The obtained findings are especially important in the context of possible application in terms of catalysis or reversible separations.
The research was partially performed as a part of the Croatian-Slovenian bilateral research project Modulation of fruit polyphenolic profile by sustainable postharvest physical treatments (APPLPEMs, IPS-2020-01-6126) funded by the Croatian Science Foundation.
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