Structure and red emissions of Eu^(3+)-doped hydrocalumite prepared in ethanol/water media

Eu^(3+)-doped hydrocalumites (Eu^(3+)-doped CaAl-LDH) were prepared in an ethanol/water media. Various techniques, including inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and fluorescent spetctra (FL), etc., were employed to study the structure, composition,and fluorescence of samples. Compositional analyses reveal that the contents of all the elements calculated from the chemical formula are close to that of the actual found from measurement. XRD results suggest that the samples with different molar ratios of Ca^(2+)/(Al^(3+)+Eu^(3+)) present typical layered structure. Moreover, all the samples exhibit monoclinic structure. Fluorescent spectra show strong red emissions ascribed to^5D_0→~7F_J(J=1, 2) transitions of Eu3+ions for all the Eu^(3+)-doped hydrocalumites,revealing that the hydrocalumite is favorable for the emission of Eu^(3+). The Eu^(3+)-doped hydrocalumite may be a latent fluorescent material applied in biological or medical fields in consideration of the biocompatibility of Ca^(2+) ions and fluorescent property of Eu^(3+) ions.

Chromate and selenate hydrocalumite solid solutions and their applications in waste treatment

Hydrocalumite, a calcium aluminate hydrate phase, consists of positively-charged structure units, and is therefore an ideal candidate for accommodating anionic contaminants. In this study, a series of batch experiments was carried out to examine the uptake of chromate and selenate by hydrocalumite. To determine the uptake capacity and long-term stability, hydrocalumite solid solutions between chromate/selenate and hydroxyl were synthesized over a reaction time of more than one year. At a ratio of water to initial solids added (CaAl2O4+CaO) of 75: 1, the maximum uptake capacities were over 77 and 114 g/kg for Cr and Se, respectively.These values are very close to the theoretical uptake capacities of chromate and selenate hydrocalumite end-members (81 and 118 g/kg, respectively). The oxyanion removal efficiency from solution was above 95%. Due to the high uptake capacity and anion removal efficiency of hydrocalumites, their application in wastewater treatment is promising. Hydrocalumites are also important hydration products of cementitious materials and the long-term stability of these phases is of significance for application in solidification/stabilization technology.

Enhanced conversion mechanism of Al-goethite in gibbsitic bauxite under reductive Bayer digestion process

The conversion mechanism of Al-goethite under the action of different additives(lime or reductant for typical or reductive Bayer digestion)was investigated by thermodynamic calculation,XRD,and SEM-EDS.The results show that the formation of Fe-substituted hydrocalumite is crucial to converting Al-goethite to hematite during Bayer digestion by adding lime.However,the conversion proceeds more easily under the action of reductant due to the rapid formation of magnetite.Additionally,Bayer liquor composition significantly affects the product composition and also the conversion rate of Al-goethite.Compared to typical Bayer digestion with Al-goethite containing gibbsitic bauxite as raw material,the red mud yield of reductive Bayer digestion decreases from 39.02%to 31.19%,and the grade of TFe in red mud increases from 41.66%to 53.80%.