Removal of Cesium Radionuclides from Aqueous Media with an Aluminosilicate Sorbent Prepared from Belaruskalii Production Waste

Abstract

The sorption ability of an aluminosilicate sorbent prepared from clay-salt slimes (Belaruskalii production waste, Belarus) was studied. The ¹³⁷Cs sorption is the most efficient at pH 2.5-10.5. At the sorbent dosage of 4 g dm³ and sorption time of 1 h, the degree of the ¹³⁷Cs sorption from aqueous solution is 98.8%. The sorbent performance in the ¹³⁷Cs removal is mainly determined by the kind (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺) and concentrations of macrocomponents in surface and groundwater. The aluminosilicate sorbent selectively takes up ¹³⁷Cs from an aqueous solution in the presence of Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ cations, but in the presence of K⁺ cations the selective sorption of ¹³⁷Cs is observed at K⁺ concentrations lower than 1 mM.