Studies on the adsorption of uranium and fission produet elements from nitric acid medium by novel silica-based polyvinylpyridine anion exchange resin

Abstract

To develop a new ion exchange process for the separation of uranium from fission products we have synthesized a novel silica-based macro-reticular polyvinylpyridine anion exchange resin. This resin has been used for the adsorption studies of uranium and some of the fission products from nitric acid medium. The distribution coefficient values for the adsorption of uranium in both tetravalent and hexavalent oxidation states were measured with the new resin and these values have been compared with the literature values for conventional anion exchange resin with quaternary ammonium as functional group. The newly synthesized silica-based macro-reticular polyvinyl pyridine anion exchange resin has the particles diameter of 50 μm, which results in fast adsorption kinetics, low swelling and pressure drop as compared to a conventional polymer based anion exchange. The distribution coefficient values for tetravalent uranium are considerably higher as compared to most of the fission products. The results indicate that complete separation of U(IV) from most fission products can be achieved. © 2002 Atomic Energy Society of Japan.