Separation nanotechnology of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid bonded magnetic nanoparticles for spent nuclear fuel

A nanomagnetic separation method based on diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) conjugated with magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) is studied for application in spent nuclear fuel separation. The high affinity of DTPA towards actinides aids in separation from the highly acidic medium of nuclear waste. The solubility and magnetization of particles at tow pH is protected by encapsulating them in silica. Surface functionalization of silica coated particles with polyamines enhances the loading capacity of the chelator on MNPs. The particles were characterized before and after surface modification using different characterizing tools. The uptake behavior of Am(III), Pu(IV), U(VI), and Np(V) from 0.1 M NaNO3 solution was determined. The sorption results show the strong affinity of DTPA towards Am(III) and Pu(IV) by extracting 97% and 80% of actinides, respectively. The high removal efficiency of actinides make the chelator conjugated MNPs an effective method for spent nuclear fuel separation. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.