The effect of dry grinding on the adsorption characteristics, e. g., distribution coefficient and saturated amount of adsorbed cations, of synthetic mordenite has been studied using a radioisotope of 137Cs+ as a tracer. The grinding operation for different periods of time, i. e., 15 to 360min, was carried out using a planetary ball mill.
The grinding operation had no effect on the distribution coefficient onto the mordenite sample at the relatively lower concentration of Cs+ in the neutral and alkaline solutions, though the coefficient significantly decreased in the acidic solutions with an increase in grinding time. The saturated amount of Cs+ adsorbed on the mordenite sample in both neutral and acidic solutions decreased markedly during the early stage of grinding. However, for more than 30 minutes of grinding, the amount of absorbed Cs+ in the neutral solution increased slightly, while in the acidic solution it gradually decreased with grinding time. These observations may be interpreted from the formation of the hydroxyl group on the fractured surface, as well as from the considerable distortion of the channel structure of mordenite induced by grinding.
