Home – Home – Jornals – Chemistry for Sustainable Development 2020 number 4

The results of a comprehensive study of an illite-containing sorbent (IS) are presented. The sorbent was obtained by means of acid-water treatment of the sample of clay-salt slimes, which are industrial wastes of JSC “Belaruskali” (the Republic of Belarus). The material composition of the IS is established, indicating that the main clay mineral is illite, the content of which is 65.2 mass %. The specific surface area of the IS is determined to be (66 ± 4) m²/g. According to mineralogical composition, the IS refers to hydromica group. The sorption ability of the IS sample to extract ¹³⁷Cs⁺ from natural waters of different chemical composition was studied. It is shown that the major ions of natural waters, namely Ca²⁺ and Na⁺, do not have a significant effect on the sorption of ¹³⁷Cs⁺ by the IS for pH of water solution within the range of 5-9. It is determined that the IS has shown high selectivity with respect to ¹³⁷Cs⁺ sorption from aquatic medium, and the main competitor is K⁺ ion. When K⁺ concentration in the aquatic medium is higher than 0.5 mol/dm³ in, the sorption of ¹³⁷Cs⁺ on the IS is completely inhibited. It is established that IS sorbs ³⁷Cs⁺ from natural water 2-4 times more efficiently than clinoptilolite of the Shivertuinskoye deposit (Chita region, Russia), which is currently used as a sorbent of ¹³⁷Cs⁺. The obtained results indicate the possibility and prospects of using CSS reserves accumulated in the Republic of Belarus to manufacture the IS and to use it for purification of aquatic medium from ¹³⁷Cs⁺, as well as for solving a number of environmental problems, including rehabilitation of radioactively contaminated soils and territories.