Preparation of Titanium Hexacyanoferrate Microspheres (Diameter <70 μm) by Water Extraction Variant of Sol-Gel Process and its Application to Sorption of 137Cs from Nuclear Reactor Cooling Water

Abstract

AbstractTitanium hexacyanoferrate microspheres (diameter <70km) were obtained in the following steps: (1) extraction of chlorides from an aqueous solution of TiCl4 with long chain amine -Primene JMT- in paraffin diluent (the resulting sol has the concentration 320 g TiO2/dm3 and the mole ratio Cl-: Ti4+ = 1.83); (2) blending of titania sol with an aqueous solution of K4 Fe(CN)6. 3H2O (280 g/dm3) in order to obtain final sols with Fe(CN)64-: Ti4+ mole ratio of 0.05 - 0.1; (3) formation of multicomponent sol emulsion in 2-ethylhexanol-1 containing I vol. % of Ethomen S/15 (EH), (4) gelation of emulsion drops by extraction of water with partially dehydrated EH; (5) filtration and washing with acetone; (6) drying at 140°C using a special procedure elaborated on the basis of TG and DTA studies.The final product is insoluble in water and exhibits high sorption efficiency of 137 Cs.