Selective cesium removal from radioactive liquid waste by crown ether immobilized new class conjugate adsorbent

Awual, M. R.; Yaita, Tsuyoshi; Taguchi, Tomitsugu; Shiwaku, Hideaki   ; Suzuki, Shinichi; Okamoto, Yoshihiro  

Conjugate materials can provide chemical functionality, enabling an assembly of the ligand complexation ability to metal ions that are important for applications, such as separation and removal devices. In this study, we developed ligand immobilized conjugate adsorbent for selective cesium (Cs) removal from wastewater. The adsorbent was synthesized by direct immobilization of DB24C8 onto inorganic mesoporous silica. The obtained results revealed that adsorbent had higher selectivity towards Cs even in the presence of a high concentration of Na and K and this is probably due to the Cs- interaction of the benzene ring. The proposed adsorbent was successfully applied for radioactive Cs removal to be used as the potential candidate in Fukushima nuclear wastewater treatment. The adsorbed Cs was eluted with suitable eluent and simultaneously regenerated into the initial form for the next removal operation after rinsing with water.