Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(1,4,7-Trioxacycloundecane-8,11-dione) Macrocyclic Functionalized Hydrogel for High Selectivity Adsorption and Complexation of Bismuth Ion

Macrocyclic functional hydrogels incorporating new poly cyclic active sites (1,4,7-trioxacycloundecane-8,11-dione) within their entire network, have been synthesized. Using the high-dilution coupling of the bi-functional monomers maleic acid and bis(chloroethyl)ether in a sol-gel chemistry synthesis, 11-membered chelate rings infused with three oxygen donor atoms were created and characterized, and their structures confirmed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic analyses. The macrocyclic gel, designed for selective host-guest adsorption and complexation of metal substrates, was initially tested against an aqueous set of 14 metal competitive solutions, where it demonstrated exclusive selectivity for Bi3+aq, with the other metals exhibiting zero adsorption. Further analysis using binary and single ion Bi3+-containing solutions showed a near-complete removal of Bi3+ using this polycyclic hydrogel, with 98% extraction efficiency and q = 9.80 mg/g. These results clearly confirm that the 1,4,7-trioxacycloundecane-8,11-dione cyclic sites are most suitable for high selectivity and capture of Bi. The metal substrates were entrapped within the 1,4,7-trioxacycloundecane-8,11-dione cyclic sites. Evidently, by exploiting the host-guest complexation chemistry of macrocycles, we were able to design hydrogel adsorbents whose networks were comprised entirely of macrocyclic active groups for possible purification works of copper involving bismuth impurities, and/or for efficient selective uptake and recovery of bismuth trace ions existing in highly competitive environments such as sea water.

Removal of cesium from alkaline waste solution: Part I – Batch ion exchange study

Batch ion exchange tests have been employed to evaluate the ability of SuperLig® 644 resin to remove 137Cs from highly alkaline nuclear waste solution. The batch sorption data indicated the SuperLig® 644 resin has a relatively high sorption affinity for cesium with a predicted number of bed volumes required to reach 50% breakthrough in a column operation (generally known as λ value) of ∼400 based on an initial total cesium concentration of 12.1 μg/mL. The sorption data also obey the Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherms.