Membranes for the Capture and Screening of Waterborne Plutonium Based on a Novel Pu-Extractive Copolymer Additive

Membranes

James C. Foster¹  Scott M. Husson¹  Timothy A. DeVol² 

[1] Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Clemson University, 127 Earle Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, USA;Nuclear Environmental Engineering Sciences, Radioactive Waste Management Center, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29625, USA;

关键词: extractive membranes;    nuclear forensics;    plutonium isotopic screening;    alpha spectrometry;    non-solvent induced phase separation;   

DOI  :  10.3390/membranes12010003

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This contribution describes the fabrication of plutonium-adsorptive membranes by non-solvent induced phase separation. The dope solution comprised poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and a Pu-extractive copolymer additive of PVDF-g-poly(ethylene glycol methacrylate phosphate) (EGMP) in dimethylformamide (DMF). The effects of casting conditions on membrane permeability were determined for PVDF membranes prepared with 10 wt% PVDF-g-EGMP. Direct-flow filtration and alpha spectrometry showed that membranes containing the graft copolymer could recover Pu up to 59.9 ± 3.0% from deionized water and 19.3 ± 3.5% from synthetic seawater after filtering 10 mL of 0.5 Bq/mL ²³⁸Pu. SEM-EDS analysis indicated that the graft copolymer was distributed evenly throughout the entire depth of the copolymer membranes, likely attributing to the tailing observed in the alpha spectra for ²³⁸Pu. Despite the reduction in resolution, the membranes exhibited high Pu uptake at the conditions tested, and new membrane designs that promote copolymer surface migration are expected to improve alpha spectrometry peak energy resolutions. Findings from this study also can be used to guide the development of extractive membranes for chromatographic separation of actinides from contaminated groundwater sources.

【 授权许可】

Unknown