Eichrom Industries, Inc., Darien, IL (United States)
Abstract
Shortcomings of chelating resins have been addressed by a new class of ion exchange resins called dual mechanism bifunctional polymers (DMBPs). DMBPs use hydrophilic cation exchange ligands with rapid uptake kinetics and use chelating ligands for selectivity for one or more metals; result is a resin that quickly recognizes and removes targeted metals from waste, remediation, and process streams. Eichrom`s Diphonix {reg_sign} resin is the first DMBP to be widely released as a commercial product; it is polystyrene based. Objective of this work is to synthesize commercial quantities of a silica-based ion exchange resin with the same or better metal ion selectivity, metal uptake kinetics, and acid stability as Diphonix. Feasibility was determined, however the process needs to be optimized. Studies at Eichrom and ANL of the performance of Diphonix resin over a broad range of HNO3 and HCl conditions and inorganic salt loadings are discussed together with the proposed method of incorporating similar characteristics into a silica-based resin. The new, silica-based resin functionalized with diphosphonic acid ligands can be used in environmental restoration and waste management situations involving processing of low-level, transuranic, and high-level radioactive wastes; it can also be used for processing liquid mixed waste including wastes contaminated with organic compounds
