Effective removal of iodate by coprecipitation with barite; Behavior and mechanism

Tokunaga, Kohei   ; Takahashi, Yoshio*; Tanaka, Kazuya  ; Kozai, Naofumi   

Radioactive iodine (I) is of great concern owing to its high mobility in the environment and long-term radiotoxicity, but there is a lack of effective techniques for removing iodate (IO) from aqueous solution. The aim of this study is to develop a new technique for removing radioactive iodate from contaminated solution by using barite (BaSO). In the present study, we examined the coprecipitation mechanism of iodate by barite at the molecular level for determining optimum conditions for iodate removal. The results showed that iodate was effectively removed from aqueous solution by coprecipitation, even in the presence of competitive anions in solution. Comparing our method with previous studies, iodate removal efficiency by barite was determined to be about two orders of magnitude greater than that by hydrotalcite-like layered double hydroxide at Cl concentration of 10 mmol L. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis indicated that incorporated iodate was strongly bound in the crystal lattice of barite by substituting the sulfate site in the structure when the iodine concentration was low. The charge compensation problem from the IO substitution in SO site is achieved by the substitution of Na-IO pairs at the nearest Ba site. Therefore, considering high removal efficiency and strong binding of iodate in barite, coprecipitation with barite is a promising material for removing radioactive iodate from various aqueous solutions contaminated with iodate.