3D-printed monoliths of zeolites chabazite and 4A were made, characterized, and shown effective for removing strontium and caesium from water

Chen, Tzu-Yu

Halevi, Oded

Hriljac, Joseph A.

Lee, Pooi See

Magdassi, Shlomo

RSC Advances

English

PubMed

The selective removal of radioactive cationic species, specifically 137Cs+ and 90Sr2+, from contaminated water is critical for nuclear waste remediation processes and environmental cleanup after accidents, such as the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster in 2011. Nanoporous silicates, such as zeolites, are most commonly used for this process but in addition to acting as selective ion exchange media must also be deployable in a correct physical form for flow columns. Herein, Digital Light Processing (DLP) three-dimensional (3D) printing was utilized to form monoliths from zeolite ion exchange powders that are known to be good for nuclear wastewater treatment. The monoliths comprise 3D porous structures that will selectively remove radionuclides in an engineered form that can be tailored to various sizes and shapes as required for any column system and can even be made with fine-grained powders unsuitable for normal gravity flow column use. 3D-printed monoliths of zeolites chabazite and 4A were made, characterized, and evaluated for their ion exchange capacities for cesium and strontium under static conditions. The 3D-printed monoliths with 50 wt% zeolite loadings exhibit Cs and Sr uptake with an equivalent ion-capacity as their pristine powders. These monoliths retain their porosity, shape and mechanical integrity in aqueous media, providing a great potential for use to notonly remove radionuclides from nuclear wastewater, but more widely in other aqueous separation-based applications and processes

See Lee, Pooi

Hriljac, Joseph

University of Birmingham Research Portal

Nuclear wastewater decontamination by 3D printed hierarchical zeolite monoliths

The selective removal of radioactive cationic species, specifically (137)Cs(+) and (90)Sr(2+), from contaminated water is critical for nuclear waste remediation processes and environmental cleanup after accidents, such as the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster in 2011. Nanoporous silicates, such as zeolites, are most commonly used for this process but in addition to acting as selective ion exchange media must also be deployable in a correct physical form for flow columns. Herein, Digital Light Processing (DLP) three-dimensional (3D) printing was utilized to form monoliths from zeolite ion exchange powders that are known to be good for nuclear wastewater treatment. The monoliths comprise 3D porous structures that will selectively remove radionuclides in an engineered form that can be tailored to various sizes and shapes as required for any column system and can even be made with fine-grained powders unsuitable for normal gravity flow column use. 3D-printed monoliths of zeolites chabazite and 4A were made, characterized, and evaluated for their ion exchange capacities for cesium and strontium under static conditions. The 3D-printed monoliths with 50 wt% zeolite loadings exhibit Cs and Sr uptake with an equivalent ion-capacity as their pristine powders. These monoliths retain their porosity, shape and mechanical integrity in aqueous media, providing a great potential for use to not only remove radionuclides from nuclear wastewater, but more widely in other aqueous separation-based applications and processes

PubMed Central

Nuclear wastewater decontamination by 3D-Printed hierarchical zeolite monoliths

Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive

The selective removal of radioactive cationic species, specifically Cs-137(+) and Sr-90(2+), from contaminated water is critical for nuclear waste remediation processes and environmental cleanup after accidents, such as the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster in 2011. Nanoporous silicates, such as zeolites, are most commonly used for this process but in addition to acting as selective ion exchange media must also be deployable in a correct physical form for flow columns. Herein, Digital Light Processing (DLP) three-dimensional (3D) printing was utilized to form monoliths from zeolite ion exchange powders that are known to be good for nuclear wastewater treatment. The monoliths comprise 3D porous structures that will selectively remove radionuclides in an engineered form that can be tailored to various sizes and shapes as required for any column system and can even be made with fine-grained powders unsuitable for normal gravity flow column use. 3D-printed monoliths of zeolites chabazite and 4A were made, characterized, and evaluated for their ion exchange capacities for cesium and strontium under static conditions. The 3D-printed monoliths with 50 wt% zeolite loadings exhibit Cs and Sr uptake with an equivalent ion-capacity as their pristine powders. These monoliths retain their porosity, shape and mechanical integrity in aqueous media, providing a great potential for use to not only remove radionuclides from nuclear wastewater, but more widely in other aqueous separation-based applications and processes.National Research Foundation (NRF)This research was supported by the Singapore National Research Foundation under the CREATE program: Nanomaterials for Energy and Water-Energy Nexus, by the EPSRC (EP/L014041/1, DISTINCTIVE), and by the Hebrew University Fund for PhD students. The authors would like to thank Zhou Xinran for her assistance with the SEM measurements, Dr Jackie Deans for technical assistance, Dr Colin Slater for XRF advice, Marie Chauvois and Dr Francis Clegg for TGA measurements. The XRF (Bruker S8) used in this research was obtained through Birmingham Science City: Creating and Characterising Next Generation Advanced Materials (West Midlands Centre for Advanced Materials Project 1), with support from Advantage West Midlands (AWM) and part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (EDRF). The Advanced Materials Facility is part of the Centre for Chemical and Materials Analysis in the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham

DR-NTU (Digital Repository of NTU)

http://pure-oai.bham.ac.uk/ws/files/94430067/c9ra09967k.pdf

Nuclear wastewater decontamination by 3D-Printed hierarchical zeolite monoliths

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University of Birmingham Research Portal

Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive

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