Removal of cesium‐134 and cobalt‐60 with radiation‐grafted copolymers from their liquid wastes

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The introduction of new characteristics to some synthetic polymers was achieved through the ␥-radiation-induced graft copolymerization of an acrylamide/vinyl acetate comonomer onto polypropylene films for the preparation of synthetic membranes. The influence of the reaction conditions on the grafting yield, such as the solvent and its composition and the inhibitor and its concentration, was investigated. An alkaline treatment was carried out for the prepared graft copolymer to improve its ion-exchange property. The grafted and treated membranes were characterized to determine the structural changes with X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The mechanical properties, swelling behavior, and electrical conductivity for the graft copolymer were studied. Improvements in the tensile strength, electrical conductivity, and hydrophilicity with grafting were observed. The KOHtreated membranes possessed greater hydrophilic properties than the untreated ones. The possibility of practical uses for these membranes in the removal of cesium-134 and cobalt-60 from their liquid wastes was also investigated. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 95: 936 -945, 2005

Structure, optical and thermal decomposition characters of LDPE graft copolymers synthesized by gamma irradiation

“…For unirradiated, irradiated and LDPE graft copolymer prepared in methanol, there are mainly two crystalline peaks in the XRD patterns; one in the angular range (2θ) of 21-22⋅4° and another in the range 35⋅4-35⋅8°. These results suggested that the inherent crystallinity of the backbone polymer was not employed by the graft copolymerization of MMA and that the grafting occurred only in the amorphous regions (Toi et al 1976;Hegazy et al 2005). These peaks are well characterized in LDPE and correspond to specific crystallographic planes 110 and 200 (Chattopadhy et al 2001).…”

An isotope dilution–precipitation process for removing radioactive cesium from wastewater

“…As a result, non-precipitation methods like ion-exchange have been investigated as possible methods to remove radioactive cesium from wastewater [1][2][3]. Natural and synthetic zeolites have been analyzed for their ion-exchange properties with cesium for decades.…”