Application of Supported Liquid Membranes for Removal of Uranium from Groundwater

A graphene oxide/amidoxime hydrogel for enhanced uranium capture

The efficient development of selective materials for the recovery of uranium from nuclear waste and seawater is necessary for their potential application in nuclear fuel and the mitigation of nuclear pollution. In this work, a graphene oxide/amidoxime hydrogel (AGH) exhibits a promising adsorption performance for uranium from various aqueous solutions, including simulated seawater. We show high adsorption capacities (Qm = 398.4 mg g(-1)) and high % removals at ppm or ppb levels in aqueous solutions for uranium species. In the presence of high concentrations of competitive ions such as Mg(2+), Ca(2+), Ba(2+) and Sr(2+), AGH displays an enhanced selectivity for uranium. For low uranium concentrations in simulated seawater, AGH binds uranium efficiently and selectively. The results presented here reveal that the AGH is a potential adsorbent for remediating nuclear industrial effluent and adsorbing uranium from seawater.

Arsenic removal by liquid membranes

Water contamination with harmful arsenic compounds represents one of the most serious calamities of the last two centuries. Natural occurrence of the toxic metal has been revealed recently for 21 countries worldwide; the risk of arsenic intoxication is particularly high in Bangladesh and India but recently also Europe is facing similar problem. Liquid membranes (LMs) look like a promising alternative to the existing removal processes, showing numerous advantages in terms of energy consumption, efficiency, selectivity, and operational costs. The development of different LM configurations has been a matter of investigation by several researching groups, especially for the removal of As(III) and As(V) from aqueous solutions. Most of these LM systems are based on the use of phosphine oxides as carriers, when the metal removal is from sulfuric acid media. Particularly promising for water treatment is the hollow fiber supported liquid membrane (HFSLM) configuration, which offers high selectivity, easy transport of the targeted metal ions, large surface area, and non-stop flow process. The choice of organic extractant(s) plays an essential role in the efficiency of the arsenic removal. Emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) systems have not been extensively investigated so far, although encouraging results have started to appear in the literature. For such LM configuration, the most relevant step toward efficiency is the choice of the surfactant type and its concentration.

Theoretical and analytical characterization of a flow-through permeation liquid membrane with controlled flux for metal speciation measurements

Speciation measurements with the permeation liquid membrane (PLM) technology require necessarily a good control of the flux of the analyte. In this perspective, a PLM-based multichannel flow-through cell has been designed. The first objective of this study has been to adapt the classical Levich model commonly used for electrochemical flow devices to the characteristic geometry of the PLM cell. In the latter case and contrary to the Levich model, the effects of the channel lateral walls on the flux of active species through the membrane have to be taken into account. The problem was solved by considering the existence of two parabolic Poiseuille profiles perpendicular to each other and developing along the fluid motion. The theoretical results obtained match satisfactorily with experimental data. The analytical study of this PLM system has been performed with copper(II) ions as test species and has shown that the preconcentration factor is (1) linear at least for preconcentration times of < or = 120 min, (2) reproducible on the same membrane as well as on different membranes, and (3) independent of the initial test metal ion concentration in the sample solution. The capabilities of this cell to determine metal speciation by considering lability of complexes and the flux of metal at variable flow rates of the test solution is also discussed by means of Cu(II)/sulfosalicylic complexes.

Selective removal of cobalt species using nanofiltration membranes

Selective removal of cobalt species from simulated nuclear liquid waste was investigated with different nanofiltration (NF) membranes at various solution pH levels, initial cobalt concentrations, and background ion concentrations. This study provides insight into the understanding of the relationships between rejections of a target compound (cobalt) and chemical equilibria of various species in the feed solution during NF. Particularly, the ratio of electrostatic rejection to steric rejection for different membranes used was quantitatively evaluated to find outthe relative significance in NF. Substantial cobalt rejection by NF was achieved along with partial separation of monovalent ionic species, although it depended on the level of liquid pH and the presence of background species. Greater cobalt rejection at increased pH was attributed to the precipitation of CoCO3(s) associated with natural carbonates originating from atmospheric CO2 gas rather than that of Co(OH)2(s). A loose NF membrane (e.g., NTR7410) gave as high a rejection as other tighter ones due to the stronger influence of electrostatic rejection, particularly at low pH where no cobalt precipitation was occurring. The decrease of cobalt rejection with the addition of boric acid was found to occur due to the formation of complexes between cobalt and boric acid, which was verified by the analyses of solution turbidity and near-infrared spectroscopy.

Permeation liquid membrane metal transport: studies of complex stoichiometries and reactions in Cu(II) extraction with the mixture 22DD-laurate in toluene/phenylhexane

The role of lauric acid (LAH) in the transport of copper(II) through a permeation liquid membrane (PLM) comprising 1,10-didecyldiaza-18-crown-6 (22DD) and lauric acid (ratio 1:1) in 1:1 v/v toluene/phenylhexane has been investigated by determining the stoichiometry of metal extraction and of the metal complex formed in the organic phase by performing 1H NMR and liquid/liquid and liquid/membrane extraction measurements. In the absence of copper(II), the 1H NMR data suggest that there is a strong interaction between the proton of LAH and the nitrogen of the 22DD macrocycle but no interaction between the aliphatic long chains of LAH and 22DD. Thus, in the organic solution, the two compounds are associated as (22DD-H)(+)-LA-, the laurate being away from (22DD-H)+. The signal intensity of the acidic proton was found to decrease when the metal Pb(II) was incorporated by the carrier after its extraction from the aqueous phase. Additionally, liquid/liquid as well as liquid/membrane extraction results reveal that Cu(II) extraction proceeds via the loss of two protons from the organic phase. The Cu(II) is found to be located in the 22DD cavity and the stoichiometry of the complex in the organic phase is (22DD-Cu)(2+)-2LA-. Metal extraction is governed by 22DD and laurate acts only as counteranion. An unexpected feature was observed in the liquid/liquid extraction which was that, at low 22DD and LAH concentrations, the slope for log(Kp) = f(pH) was 2 whereas it was much lower at high carrier concentration. This unexpected result seems to stem from impurities present in 22DD: only 0.1 mol% of impurity can indeed influence the exchange ratio of Cu(II) and H+. This type of anomaly, however, is not found in the normal procedure of liquid/membrane extraction possibly due to the lower carrier/metal molar ratio which is used in the classical PLM conditions.