Electrospun sodium titanate fibres for fast and selective water purification †.

From the environmental and end-users' viewpoints, electrospun ion exchange fibres provide highly efficient and sustainable material for separation of for example trace pollutants, such as radionuclides and heavy metals. This work aimed to reduce the amount of ion exchange material needed per unit volume of raw material subjected to an ion exchange process. We present a very simple process to electrospinning of sodium titanate fibres, but also test results of ion exchange kinetics measurements. Sodium titanate fibres are very promising material and it is possible that by exploiting electrospun inorganic sub-micron fibres the ion exchanger mass required for a given capacity can be decreased significantly.

The use of columns of the zeolite clinoptilolite in the remediation of aqueous nuclear waste streams.

Mud Hills clinoptilolite has been used in an effluent treatment plant (SIXEP) at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site. This material has been used to remove 134/137Cs and 90Sr successfully from effluents for 3 decades. Samples of the zeolite have been tested in column experiments to determine their ability to remove radioactive Cs+ and Sr2+ ions under increasing concentrations of competing ions, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+. These ions caused increased elution of Cs+ and Sr2+. Ca2+, Mg2+ and K+ were more effective competitors than Na+. For Na+, it was found that if concentration was reduced, then column performance recovered rapidly.

Polymer-inorganic coatings containing nanosized sorbents selective to radionuclides. 2. Latex/tin oxide composites for cobalt fixation.

Colloidal tin oxide with an average particle size of 3.5 nm, which was ex-situ synthesized by the sol-gel method, has been attached to the surface of amino-functionalized poly(acrylate-co-silane) latex particles with a diameter of 100 nm to yield a composite with selective sorption properties toward Co(2+) ions. Electrokinetic properties and the colloidal stability of the synthesized latex/SnO2 composites have been evaluated in dependence on SnO2 content and pH; the sorption capacity and distribution coefficients of composites for Co(2+) ions were in accordance with the SnO2 content and its sorption performance as an individual compound. Composite coatings obtained by casting latex/SnO2 dispersions on quartz sand spiked with (57)Co radionuclide have efficiently eliminated radionuclides migration from the surface when the SnO2 volume fraction in the film was 3.5-4.7%. Furthermore, at these SnO2 loadings, the composite coatings retained the coherent structure of the original latex coating with SnO2 particles homogeneously distributed over the film thickness. The presence of competing Ca(2+) ions in the leaching media at a concentration of above 0.01 mol/L results in a decrease of the distribution coefficients of the latex/SnO2 composite and significantly higher (57)Co leaching. The value of the distribution coefficient of the sorption material to be used in latex composite coatings to prevent migration of radionuclides shall be close to 10(6) mL/g.

Stable and selective scintillating anion-exchange sensors for quantification of 99TcO4- in natural freshwaters.

New dual functionality scintillating anion-exchange resins were developed for selective determination of (99)TcO4(-) in various natural freshwater samples. Stable scintillating particles were formed by preparing the vinyl monomer 2-[4-(4'-vinylbiphenylyl)]-5-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (vPBD), starting with the commercial organic flour TBut-PBD and its subsequent copolymerization with styrene, divinylbenzene, and p-chloromethylstyrene mixture. To integrate the radiochemical separation and radiometric detection steps within the same bead, the chloromethyl groups of the scintillating resins were subjected to amination reactions with dioctylamine (DOA) and trioctylamine (TOA). On-line quantification of (99)TcO4(-) was achieved by packing the scintillating anion-exchange resin into Teflon tubing for quantification by a flow scintillation analyzer (FSA). The two functionalized resins were selective for pertechnetate over the common anions in natural freshwaters, especially Cl(-) and SO4(2-) with up to 1000 ppm and with up to 10 ppm I(-) and Cr2O7(2-). The uptake efficiency of the TOA sensor decreased from 97.88% to 85.08% in well water and river water, respectively, while the counting efficiency was almost constant (69.50%). The DOA performance showed lower efficiency in the two water types relative to TOA. On the other hand, the DOA sensor could be regenerated by 5 M HNO3 for reuse at least four times without losing its chemical or optical performance. The detection limit was 1.45 Bq which could be achieved by loading 45 mL from well and tap water containing the maximum contaminant level (MCL) of (99)Tc (33 Bq/L).

Capture of Co(II) from its aqueous EDTA-chelate by DTPA-modified silica gel and chitosan.

The adsorption of Co(II) by diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA)-modified silica gel and chitosan in the presence of EDTA and other interfering species was studied. Co(II) removal ranged from 93% to 96% from the solutions where Co(II) was totally chelated by EDTA. The amount of oxalate or Fe(II) did not affect the adsorption of Co(II) in the case of DTPA-chitosan. However, increasing the amount of oxalate enhanced the adsorption performance of DTPA-silica gel, probably due to the formation of new active sites on the silica gel surface. DTPA-chitosan was also effective in simulated decontamination solutions. For DTPA-silica gel, the rate of adsorption of free Co(II) was controlled by pore diffusion, but the rate of adsorption of Co(II)EDTA was controlled by the surface chelation reaction, which was attributed to the inhibited diffusion of Co(II)EDTA inside the silica gel mesopores. However, the macroporous structure of DTPA-chitosan enabled pore diffusion of both Co(II) and Co(II)EDTA. The equilibrium isotherms of DTPA-silica gel were best described by a BiLangmuir model, in which there are two different adsorption sites on the silica gel surface assigned to different speciations of DTPA. For DTPA-chitosan, the data fit best with a Sips model, which indicates system heterogeneity. Finally, measurements with capillary electrophoresis showed an increase in dissolved EDTA during adsorption, demonstrating the ability of DTPA-modified adsorbents to release Co(II) from its EDTA chelate. This promising result can provide a basis for applying the studied materials to the treatment of water effluents containing Co(II) chelated by EDTA by a simple one-step adsorption process.

Nanoporous manganese oxides as environmental protective materials-effect of Ca and Mg on metals sorption.

The selectivity of nanoporous manganese oxides for some alkali and transition metals over calcium and magnesium was studied. Two tunnel-structured oxides (OMS-1 and OMS-2) were synthesized by means of a hydrothermal route. Competitive uptake of metals and acid was studied using batch kinetic measurements at different metal ion concentrations. The experimental data were correlated with a dynamic model. The results show that the studied OMS materials selectively adsorb Cu, Ni and Cd in the presence of Ca and Mg. It was also found that the exchange rates were reasonably high due to the small particle dimensions. Both materials are stable in the studied conditions and their maximum Cu uptake capacity was 0.9-1.3 mmol/g. The results indicate that both materials have potential for environmental applications involving the uptake of harmful metal ions.

Sorption of radiocobalt and its EDTA complex on titanium antimonates.

The sorption properties of two synthesized titanium antimonate materials were tested in simulated nuclear power plant decontamination solutions. The aim was the removal of radiocobalt in the presence of complexing agents such as EDTA and oxalate. The first titanium antimonate material had a mixture of pyrochlore and rutile structures and it showed good tolerance for the complexing agents. 91% of cobalt was removed in the presence of EDTA, and oxalic acid had only a minor effect on the sorption. The other material, which had a mopungite structure, tolerated EDTA well (97% removal of cobalt) but its sorption properties for cobalt were restricted to a specific amount of oxalic acid. The sorption efficiency of cobalt increased for both materials when the cobalt concentration was less than 1 microM, indicating that the synthesized materials are efficient sorbents, especially for trace amounts of radiocobalt.