BACKGROUNDThe removal and recovery of rare earth elements have gained great attention not only because of their industrial importance, but also from the viewpoint of environmental waste disposal. Ion exchange technology is currently the best way to remove and recover metal ions from aqueous solutions. Therefore, the aim of this work is to synthesize a thermally stable inorganic ion exchange material with high adsorption efficiency for lanthanides. RESULTSA number of aluminum silicotitanates (AST 1-31) have been synthesized under different conditions of preparation including molar ratio, concentration, ageing time and drying temperature. These materials were characterized structurally using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermal (DT) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and BET-surface area. The material was found to have the formula [Al6Si4TiO19] 8H(2)O. Their properties as potential inorganic ion exchange materials have been examined for the removal of La(III), Eu(III), Fe(III) from aqueous solution. CONCLUSIONThe adsorption of rare earth elements and iron was found to be 99 and 79%, respectively. Thus it is concluded that the AST inorganic exchanger is more efficient for recovery of rare earth elements than iron. (c) 2015 Society of Chemical Industry