Separation of radionuclides by polyurethane foam

The sorption of ⁶⁰Co, ⁶⁵Zn, ⁷⁵Se, ¹⁰³Pd, ¹¹⁰Ag and ²⁰³Hg radionuclides by polyurethane foam (PUF) was investigated and optimized with respect to the selection of appropriate sorptive medium, metal, thiocyanate ions (except for ¹¹⁰Ag) and PUF concentration and equilibration time. The influence of common anions and cations on the sorption of each metal was examined. The sorption data subjected to different sorption isotherms have shown that the sorption of all the radionuclides followed Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherms. The sorption capacity intensity and energy were evaluated for each element studied. The variation of sorption with temperature was monitored for all radionuclides except zinc and selenium. The values of ΔH, ΔS and ΔG were estimated and found to be negative indicating exothermic and spontaneous nature of sorption. It was found that PUF is an effective and economical sorbent for traces of metal ions which can be used for the separation/preconcentration of these ions from their very dilute solutions and has useful applications in radioanalytical and environmental chemistry and in radioactive and industrial liquid waste management.