title: Nano-cerium vanadate: a novel inorganic ion exchanger for removal of americium and uranium from simulated aqueous nuclear waste.
abstract: Cerium vanadate nanopowders were synthesized by a facile low temperature co-precipitation method. The product was characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy and found to consist of ∼25 nm spherical nanoparticles. The efficiency of these nanopowders for uptake of alpha-emitting radionuclides (233)U (4.82 MeV α) and (241)Am (5.49 MeV α, 60 keV γ) has been investigated. Thermodynamically and kinetically favorable uptake of these radionuclides resulted in their complete removal within 3h from aqueous acidic feed solutions. The uptake capacity was observed to increase with increase in pH as the zeta potential value decreased with the increase in pH but effect of ionic strength was insignificant. Little influence of the ions like Sr(2+), Ru(3+), Fe(3+), etc., in the uptake process indicated CeVO4 nanopowders to be amenable for practical applications. The isotherms indicated predominant uptake of the radioactive metal ions in the solid phase of the exchanger at lower feed concentrations and linear Kielland plots with positive slopes indicated favorable exchange of the metal ions with the nanopowder. Performance comparison with the other sorbents reported indicated excellent potential of nano-cerium vanadate for removing americium and uranium from large volumes of aqueous acidic solutions.
authors.affiliation: Fuel Reprocessing Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India.
authors.forename: Chayan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Fuel Reprocessing Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India.
authors.forename: Nilesh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dudwadkar
authors.affiliation: Fuel Reprocessing Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India. Electronic address: sctri001@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Subhash Chandra
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Tripathi
authors.affiliation: Fuel Reprocessing Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India.
authors.forename: Pritam Maniklal
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Gandhi
authors.affiliation: Waste Management Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India.
authors.forename: Vinita
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Grover
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India.
authors.forename: Chetan Prakash
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Kaushik
authors.affiliation: Waste Management Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India. Electronic address: aktyagi@barc.gov.in.
authors.forename: Avesh Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Tyagi
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D000576:Americium / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002563:Cerium / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D014501:Uranium / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014638:Vanadates / Q000737:chemistry*; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive; D002563:Cerium; D014638:Vanadates; D014501:Uranium; D000576:Americium
keywords: Americium; Cerium vanadate; Co-precipitation; Kielland plot; Sorption isotherm; Uranium