Preparation and characterization of adsorbent based on carbon for pertechnetate adsorption

Removal of radionuclide 99Tc from aqueous solution by various adsorbents: A review

Technetium isotope 99Tc is a main radioactive waste produced in the process of nuclear reaction, which has the characteristics of long half-life and strong environmental mobility, and can be bio-accumulated in organisms, resulting in serious threat to human health and ecosystem. Adsorption method is widely used in the field of removing radionuclides from water due to the advantages of high treatment rate, simple and mature industrial application. In this review paper, the recent advances in research and application of various adsorption materials for 99Tc pollution treatment were summarized and analyzed for the first time, including inorganic adsorbents, such as activated carbon, zero-valent iron, metallic minerals, clay minerals, layered double hydroxides (LDHs), tin-based materials, and sulfur-based materials; organic adsorbents, such as porous organic polymers (POPs), covalent-organic frameworks (COFs), metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and ion exchange resin; and biological adsorbents, such as biopolymers (chitosan, cellulose, alginate), and microbial cells. The performance characteristics and the adsorption kinetics and isotherms of various adsorption materials were discussed. This review could deepen the understanding of the adsorptive removal of 99Tc from aqueous solution, and provide a reference for the future research in this field.

A quantitative description of the compatibility of technetium-selective chromatographic technetium-99m separation with low specific activity molybdenum-99

Technetium-99m generators employing a technetium-selective stationary phase are a chromatographic instrument developed for use with 99Mo having low specific activity (LSA); particularly, 99Mo produced by electron accelerators. This paper presents a mathematical description of technetium-selective chromatographic (TSC) 99mTc separation and analyzes its compatibility with LSA 99Mo. We developed a theoretical formula for TSC 99mTc separation by discretizing its pertechnetate selectivity, and validated it using an electron linear accelerator and activated carbon-based TSC (AC-TSC) 99mTc generators. We confirmed that the activity concentration of 99mTc obtained from a TSC 99mTc generator can be calculated directly from its input 99Mo activity regardless of the 99Mo specific activity. The formula corroborates that TSC 99mTc separation is compatible with LSA 99Mo, and has a practical application in estimating the number of TSC 99mTc generators required for 99mTc demand of interest.

Fusion-Based Neutron Generator Production of Tc-99m and Tc-101: A Prospective Avenue to Technetium Theranostics

Presented are the results of ^99mTc and ¹⁰¹Tc production via neutron irradiation of natural isotopic molybdenum (Mo) with epithermal/resonance neutrons. Neutrons were produced using a deuterium-deuterium (D-D) neutron generator with an output of 2 × 10¹⁰ n/s. The separation of Tc from an irradiated source of bulk, low-specific activity (LSA) Mo on activated carbon (AC) was demonstrated. The yields of ^99mTc and ¹⁰¹Tc, together with their potential use in medical single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) procedures, have been evaluated from the perspective of commercial production, with a patient dose consisting of 740 MBq (20 mCi) of ^99mTc. The number of neutron generators to meet the annual 40,000,000 world-wide procedures is estimated for each imaging modality: ^99mTc versus ¹⁰¹Tc, D-D versus deuterium-tritium (D-T) neutron generator system outputs, and whether or not natural molybdenum or enriched targets are used for production. The financial implications for neutron generator production of these isotopes is also presented. The use of ¹⁰¹Tc as a diagnostic, therapeutic, and/or theranostic isotope for use in medical applications is proposed and compared to known commercial nuclear diagnostic and therapeutic isotopes.

Polymeric ionic liquid gels composed of hydrophilic and hydrophobic units for high adsorption selectivity of perrhenate

The removal of TcO₄⁻ from aqueous solutions has attracted more and more attention recently, and ReO₄⁻ has been widely used as its natural analog. In this work, polymeric ionic liquid gel adsorbents, PC₂-C₁₂vimBr, with high adsorption capacity and selectivity towards ReO₄⁻ were synthesized by radiation-induced polymerization and crosslinking. PC₂-C₁₂vimBr was composed of two monomers: a hydrophobic unit, 1-vinyl-3-dodecylimidazolium bromide for high selectivity, and a hydrophilic unit, 1-vinyl-3-ethylimidazolium bromide for improved kinetics. A gel fraction up to 90% could be achieved under 40 kGy with varied monomer ratios. The adsorption of PC₂-C₁₂vimBr gels for ReO₄⁻ was evaluated by batch adsorption. The PC₂-C₁₂vimBr gel containing 20 mol% hydrophilic unit (named PC₂-C₁₂vimBr-A) could significantly improve the adsorption kinetics, which had an equilibrium time of ca. 24 h. The adsorption capacity obtained from the Langmuir model was 559 mg g⁻¹ (Re/gel). The selective factor against NO₃⁻ was 33.4 ± 1.9, which was more than 10 times higher than that of PC₂vimBr, and it could maintain ReO₄⁻ uptake as high as 100 mg g⁻¹ in 0.5 mol kg⁻¹ HNO₃. The ΔH^Θ and ΔS^Θ of the NO₃⁻/ReO₄⁻ ion-exchange reaction of PC₂-C₁₂vimNO₃-A were −16.9 kJ mol⁻¹ and 29 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹, respectively, indicating physical adsorption. The adsorption mechanism of ReO₄⁻ onto PC₂-C₁₂vimBr-A gel was ion-exchange, and it could be recovered using 5.4 mol kg⁻¹ HNO₃.

Polymeric ionic liquid gels composed of hydrophilic and hydrophobic units with high adsorption selectivity towards perrhenate were synthesized.

Impacts of nitrate and electron donor on perchlorate reduction and microbial community composition in a biologically activated carbon reactor

The sensitivity of perchlorate reduction and microbial composition to varied nitrate and acetate loadings was studied in a biologically activated carbon reactor with perchlorate loading and empty bed contact time fixed at 5 mg/L and 226 min, respectively. In stage 1, the sole electron acceptor ClO₄^- realized complete removal with ≥21.95 mg C/L of acetate supply. As nitrate loading gradually increased to 5 mg/L (stage 2), perchlorate reduction was slightly promoted and both ClO₄^- and NO₃^- were completely removed at an acetate loading of 29.7 mg C/L. When nitrate loading continued increasing to 10-60 mg/L (stage 3), perchlorate reduction converted to be inhibited, along with nondetectable NO₃^- and approximately exhausted DOC in effluent. When acetate loading increased to 43.9 mg C/L in stage 4, both ClO₄^- and NO₃^- were again removed, though lags still existed in perchlorate reduction. β-Proteobacteria accounted for about 60%, 55%, 58%, 61% and 12% in samples from the base and top of the filter in stage 1 and those from the base, middle and top in stage 4, respectively. These findings implied that ratio of NO₃^- to ClO₄^- loadings and acetate loading were two key factors impacting ClO₄^- reduction and microbial structure along the filter.

Bamboo (Acidosasa edulis) shoot shell biochar: Its potential isolation and mechanism to perrhenate as a chemical surrogate for pertechnetate

In this work, a biochar was prepared from bamboo (Acidosasa edulis) shoot shell through slow pyrolysis (under 300-700 °C). Characterization with various tools showed that the biochar surface was highly hydrophobic and also had more basic functional groups. Batch sorption experiments showed that the biochar had strong sorption ability to perrhenate (a chemical surrogate for pertechnetate) with maximum sorption capacity of 46.46 mg/g, which was significantly higher than commercial coconut shell activated carbon and some adsorbents reported previously. Desorption experiments showed that more than 94% of total perrhenate adsorbed could be recovered using 0.1 mol/L KOH as a desorption medium. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the recovery of perrhenate by the biochars was mainly through surface adsorption mechanisms involving both high hydrophobicity and high basic sites of biochar surface.

Selective Removal of Technetium from Water Using Graphene Oxide Membranes

The effective removal of radioactive technetium ((99)Tc) from contaminated water is of enormous importance from an environmental and public health perspective, yet many current methodologies are highly ineffective. In this work, however, we demonstrate that graphene oxide membranes may remove (99)Tc, present in the form of pertechnetate (TcO4(-)), from water with a high degree of selectivity, suggesting they provide a cost-effective and efficient means of achieving (99)Tc decontamination. The results were obtained by quantifying and comparing the free energy changes associated with the entry of the ions into the membrane capillaries (ΔFperm), using molecular dynamics simulations. Initially, three capillary widths were investigated (0.35, 0.68, and 1.02 nm). In each case, the entry of TcO4(-) from aqueous solution into the capillary is associated with a decrease in free energy, unlike the other anions (SO4(2-), I(-), and Cl(-)) investigated. For example, in the model with a capillary width of 0.68 nm, ΔFperm(TcO4(-)) = -6.3 kJ mol(-1), compared to ΔFperm(SO4(2-)) = +22.4 kJ mol(-1). We suggest an optimum capillary width (0.48 nm) and show that a capillary with this width results in a difference between ΔFperm(TcO4(-)) and ΔFperm(SO4(2-)) of 89 kJ mol(-1). The observed preference for TcO4(-) is due to its weakly hydrating nature, reflected in its low experimental hydration free energy.

A classical force field for tetrahedral oxyanions developed using hydration properties: The examples of pertechnetate (TcO4(-)) and sulfate (SO4(2-))

Radioactive pertechnetate, (99)TcO4(-), is one of the most problematic ionic species in the context of the clean up and storage of nuclear waste. Molecular simulations can be used to understand the behavior of TcO4(-) in dilute aqueous solutions, providing reliable potentials are available. This work outlines the development of a new potential model for TcO4(-) and competing SO4(2-), optimized using their hydration properties, such as the Gibbs hydration free energy (calculated using Bennett's acceptance ratio method). The findings show that the TcO4(-) oxyanion has a very low hydration free energy (-202 kJ mol(-1)) compared to other anions (Cl(-), I(-), SO4(2-)) leading to fast water exchange dynamics and explaining its observed high mobility in the aqueous environment. Its hydrated structure, investigated using ion-water radial distribution functions, shows that it is unique amongst the other anions in that it does not possess well-defined hydration shells. Since contaminants and ubiquitous species in the aqueous environment are often present as tetrahedral oxyanions, it is proposed that the approach could easily be extended to a whole host of other species.