Sodium titaniumsilicate as ion exchanger: synthesis, characterization and application in separation of 90Y from 90Sr

Abstract

A new inorganic material, sodium titaniumsilicate has been synthesized, and characterized by physicochemical and spectroscopic tools. The thermal and radiation stability of the compound was checked by TGA technique and a γ-irradiating chamber with a total dose rate of 5 kGy/h. The compound is highly stable towards thermal, chemical and total radiation dose of 64 kGy. The study of the exchange capacity of the material towards different alkali and alkaline earth metal ions showed that the sorption capacities of the alkali metal ions were greater than those of alkaline earth metal ions. The crystalline state of this new inorganic material is very useful as an inorganic ion exchanger to have the carrier free short-lived β-active daughter product 90Y from the long-lived 90Sr of the radioactive equilibrium mixture. The absorbed daughter was recovered by using 1.0% EDTA solutions at pH 7.0 as eluting agent. The features and trends in elution are encouraging to apply this material as an exchanger in radionuclide generator system.