Studies on the potassium–nickel hexacyanoferrate/ethanolamine/silica ion exchanger for 60Co removal from spent fuel storage basins and the primary water circuit of nuclear reactors

Abstract

Additional modification of the potassium–nickel hexacyanoferrate/silica composite with ethanolamine lead to synthesis of a nanocomposite ion exchanger, characterized by a high specific area and high selectivity for Co2+ ions. Presence of high amounts of inactive metal ions such as Na+, K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ in CoCl2 solutions in seawater leads to a decrease of the distribution coefficient, although even in such conditions the ion exchanger is highly selective for the cobalt(II) ions. An additional advantage of the synthesized ion exchanger is high thermal stability and resistance to γ radiation.