Development of Polymer Inclusion Membranes Potentially Applicable for the Treatment of Radioactive Wastewater

Abstract

Study was initiated to develop polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) which will be applied for the treatment of radioactive wastewater. The PIMs were prepared using cellulose triacetate (CTA) as a polymer matrix, 2-nitrophenyl n-octyl ether (NPOE) as a solvent and octyl(phenyl)-N,N-diisobutyl carbamoylmethylphosphine oxide (CMPO) or N,N,N',N'-tetraoctyl-3-oxapentanediamide (TODGA) as a carrier. An aqueous solution containing cerium(III)nitrate, nitric acid and sodium nitrate was used as a model for the radioactive wastewater, and the transport of cerium ions through the PIMs was investigated experimentally. The experimental results showed that a carrier-mediated transport of cerium ions was obtained using the PIMs. A relatively short time was needed to remove cerium ions from the feed phase to the strip phase using the present PIMs. The experimental results revealed that the rate-limiting step of the transport process is the diffusion of the ion-carrier complex in the membrane.