More Efficient Prussian Blue Nanoparticles for an Improved Caesium Decontamination from Aqueous Solutions and Biological Fluids.

Fabio Carniato,Matteo Guidotti,Andrey M. Katsev,Chiara Vittoni,Chiara Bisio,Giorgio Gatti,Claudio Evangelisti

doi:10.3390/molecules25153447

Abstract

Any release of radioactive cesium-137, due to unintentional accidents in nuclear plants, represents a dangerous threat for human health and the environment. Prussian blue has been widely studied and used as an antidote for humans exposed to acute internal contamination by Cs-137, due to its ability to act as a selective adsorption agent and to its negligible toxicity. In the present work, the synthesis protocol has been revisited avoiding the use of organic solvents to obtain Prussian blue nanoparticles with morphological and textural properties, which positively influence its Cs+ binding capacity compared to a commercially available Prussian blue sample. The reduction of the particle size and the increase in the specific surface area and pore volume values compared to the commercial Prussian blue reference led to a more rapid uptake of caesium in simulated enteric fluid solution (+35% after 1 h of contact). Then, after 24 h of contact, both solids were able to remove >98% of the initial Cs+ content. The Prussian blue nanoparticles showed a weak inhibition of the bacterial luminescence in the aqueous phase and no chronic detrimental toxic effects.

Highlights

The synthesis of Prussian blue (PB) has been known since the early 18th century [1,2]
Prussian blue particles were synthesized by modifying the coprecipitation methods currently present in the literature in order to reduce the environmental impact of the overall process
In the purification step has been optimized avoiding the use of acetone or other environmentally unfriendly particular, the purification stepbeen has employed been optimized avoiding the use of in acetone or obtain other organic solvents that have often in the recent literature order to environmentally unfriendly organic solvents that have often been employed in the recent literature high-performance materials, suitable for biological and/or medica applications, without compromising in and order obtain high-performance materials, suitable for biological and/or medica the quality theto purity of the material

Summary

Introduction

The synthesis of Prussian blue (PB) has been known since the early 18th century [1,2]. Used for a long time as a painter’s pigment and dye for textiles, since the early 1960s it has been studied and subsequently widely used as an antidote for internal contamination due to radioactive caesium-137 or to toxic thallium salts [3]. Prussian blue’ (KFeIII {FeII (CN)6 }·nH2 O) and as ‘insoluble Prussian blue’ (Fe4 III {FeII (CN)6 }3 ·nH2 O) [5,6]. Both species are not soluble in water, but these terms refer to the capacity of PB to be dispersed as a colloidal suspension [7]. Since the diameter of the lattice channels is 3.2 Å wide, the PB structure is Molecules 2020, 25, 3447; doi:10.3390/molecules25153447 www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules

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Conclusion