Stability of polyvinylpolypyrrolidone against -ray irradiation in HNO media

Nogami, Masanobu*; Sugiyama, Yuichi*; Kawasaki, Takeshi*; Harada, Masayuki*; Kawata, Yoshihisa*; Morita, Yasuji  ; Kikuchi, Toshiaki*; Ikeda, Yasuhisa*

Stability of polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP), a resin with adsorption selectivity to U(VI) in nitric acid media, against -ray irradiation has been examined using HNO solutions of various concentrations. As the result, no clear decrease in the capacity was observed for any samples. Or rather, it was found that the capacity increased by approximately 50% for the PVPP slurry irradiated in 6 M HNO. The infrared spectroscopic study indicates that PVPP degrades by -ray irradiation in HNO from the cleavage of the pyrrolidone ring by the addition of oxygen atom originating from HNO, followed by the formation of chain monoamides with multiple coordinative atoms by the continuous addition of oxygen, finally leading to the generation of primary-amine type anion exchange resin. It is also indicated that all generated functional groups possess adsorptivity to U(VI) in 3 M HNO.