Preparation of organic-inorganic composite adsorbent beads for removal of radionuclides and heavy metal ions

Composite ion exchanger beads were prepared to remove the strontium and silver ions in acidic solution. Potassium titanate and nickelferrocyanate powder, which are acid resistant inorganic ion exchangers were synthesized and then mixed with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) binder to form a PAN-potassium titanate and a PAN-nickelferrocyanate composite ion exchanger beads. Spherical composite beads could be obtained by adjusting the viscosities of the composite dope in the range of 700-1000 cP. The composite beads porosities such as macropore volume and pore size were increased in proportion to the contents of PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone) which was used as the porosity modifying chemical. The synthesized composite ion exchangers were evaluated on their adsorption characteristics for the Ag⁺ and Sr²⁺ ion solutions of pH 2.