Effect of the resorcinol/formaldehyde ratio and the temperature of the resorcinol–formaldehyde gel solidification on the chemical stability and sorption characteristics of ion-exchange resins

Abstract

A series of resorcinol–formaldehyde resins (RFR) samples for Cs-137 removal from liquid alkaline media have been synthesized. It has been demonstrated that the chemical stability as well as sorption characteristics are determined by the resorcinol/formaldehyde molar ratio and the solidification temperature. It has been also demonstrated that the sample synthesized at the resorcinol/formaldehyde molar ratio of 1.8/2.2 and solidified at 210◦ C is characterized by the best sorption-selective characteristics and chemical stability. Under dynamic conditions, at feeding > 1000 bed volumes of a model solution with pH > 13, the RFR 3-1 goes through six sorption cycles without noticeable changes in the sorption characteristics. The results are presented that demonstrate the possibility of RFR application in the decontamination of real LRW from Cs-137.