Sulfur-modified zeolite A as a low-cost strontium remover with improved selectivity for radioactive strontium

Abstract

Selective removal of radioactive strontium (Sr-90) from the environment is important, and selective adsorption/ ion exchange is appropriate for removal of trace amounts of Sr-90 from large volumes of Sr-90-contaminated water. Although various inorganic ion-exchange materials, including zeolites, have been investigated intensively for removal of Sr2+ due to their excellent resistance to radiation and high ion-exchange capacity, their ion-exchange selectivity for Sr2+ is poor in the presence of competing ions such as Ca2+ and Mg2+. Here, sulfur-modified NaA zeolite (S-NaA) was prepared for low-cost, selective Sr-90 removal because the elemental sulfur encapsulated in micropores provides additional Lewis acid-base interactions with Sr2+ during the Sr2+ ion-exchange. Our ion exchange experiments revealed that S-NaA with 3 wt% sulfur (3 S-NaA) showed the highest Sr2+ selectivity among various S-NaAs containing up to 10 wt% sulfur because ion exchange involving bulky hydrated Sr2+ depends on the reduced micropore volume of S-NaA after sulfur loading. Most importantly, 3 S-NaA effectively and efficiently (> 99.4%) removed Sr-90 from groundwater containing 8.4 ppt Sr-90, demonstrating its excellent potential for practical application in the treatment of( 90)Sr-contaminated water.