The strong demand for rare-earth elements (REEs) is driven by their wide use in high-tech devices. New processes have to be developed for valorizing low-grade ores or alternative metal sources (such as wastes and spent materials). The present work contributed to the development of new sorbents for the recovery of rare earth ions from aqueous solutions. Functionalized mesoporous silica composite was synthesized by grafting diethylenetriamine onto composite support. The physical and chemical properties of the new sorbent are characterized using BET, TGA, elemental analysis, titration, FTIR, and XPS spectroscopies to identify the reactive groups (amine groups: 3.25 mmol N g⁻¹ and 3.41 by EA and titration, respectively) and their mode of interaction with Nd(III) and Gd(III). The sorption capacity at the optimum pH (i.e., 4) reaches 0.9 mmol Nd g⁻¹ and 1 mmol Gd g⁻¹. Uptake kinetics are modeled by the pseudo-first-order rate equation (equilibrium time: 30–40 min). At pH close to 4–5, the sorbent shows high selectivity for rare-earth elements against alkali-earth elements. This selectivity is confirmed by the efficient recovery of REEs from acidic leachates of gibbsite ore. After elution (using 0.5 M HCl solutions), selective precipitation (using oxalate solutions), and calcination, pure rare earth oxides were obtained. The sorbent shows promising perspective due to its high and fast sorption properties for REEs, good recycling, and high selectivity.

The detection of heavy metals in aqueous solutions has always attracted much attention from all over the world. A fluorescent probe of CdSe/CdS core-shell quantum dots (QDs) was designed to detect trace Cd²⁺ in aqueous solutions using the OFF–ON mode rapidly and efficiently, likely based on adsorption and desorption reactions between ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt (EDTA) and CdSe/CdS QDs. In the OFF mode, the optical shielding function of EDTA results in fluorescence quenching owing to the strong adsorption ability of EDTA with Cd²⁺ on the sites of CdSe/CdS QDs surface. In the ON mode, the introduction of Cd²⁺ promotes the desorption of EDTA from the EDTA-CdSe/CdS QDs and restores the fluorescence intensity. There were two linear response ranges which were 0.1–20 µmol/L and 20–90 µmol/L for the EDTA-CdSe/CdS system to detect Cd²⁺. The detection limit was 6 nmol/L, and the standard deviation was below 4% for the detection of Cd²⁺ concentration in tap water.

A series of novel Li⁺ doped Bi_3.46Ho_0.04Yb_0.5Ti₃O₁₂ (BHYTO: xLi, 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15) upconversion phosphors were prepared through a sol-gel-sintering method. There exist three emission bands centered at 545 nm, 658 nm, and 756 nm in the upconversion emission spectra at 980 nm excitation, corresponding to energy transitions of ⁵F₄/⁵S₂ → ⁵I₈, ⁵F₅ → ⁵I₈ and ⁵F₄/⁵S₂ → ⁵I₇ of Ho³⁺, and the upconversion emission intensity of BHYTO: 0.05Li is about 2.2 times stronger than that of BHYTO samples. The luminescent lifetime of the strongest emission (545 nm) is in the range of 45.25 to 65.99 μs for the different BHYTO: xLi phosphors. The energy transfers during the upconversion pumping process from Yb³⁺ to Ho³⁺ are mainly responsible for all the emissions, each belonging to a double-photon process. Li⁺ mainly entered into the interspace sites or occupied Bi³⁺ sites in Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ host during the fabrication process according to its dosage, and the possibility is very low for Li⁺ to take part in the energy transfer process directly due to its lack of matching levels with 4f of Ho³⁺ and Yb³⁺. However, Li⁺ doping can not only increase the size of crystal grains to improve crystallinity through XRD analysis, but also reduced oxygen vacancies to decrease the number of quenching centers through XPS analysis. The improved crystallinity and reduced quenching centers are proposed to be the main causes for the enhanced upconversion luminescence of the Li⁺ doped BHYTO phosphor.