Xanthate functionalized PAMAM dendrimer (XFPD) chelating ligand for treatment of radioactive liquid wastes

Xanthate functionalized PAMAM dendrimer (XFPD) chelating ligand, first of its kind, has been synthesized from hydroxyl terminated poly(amido) amine dendrimer. Studies on performance of XFPD in removal of Cu2+ and Eu3+ metal ions were carried out from aqueous solution. Investigation on quantitative removal of Cu2+ and Eu3+ metal ions at various pH revealed that XFPD effectively precipitates the metal ions at pH > 4 with settling time of about 3 h. In case of Cu-XFPD complex at pH> 6, settling requires the addition of coagulating agent like aluminium sulphate. The loading capacity of XFPD for Cu2+ and Eu3+ metal ions was estimated to be 0.48 and 0.95 g g (1), respectively. The XFPD chelating ligand deployed for treatment of radioactive liquid waste (RLW) showed that percentage removal of radionuclides were in the following order; Zr-95 approximate to Eu-154 approximate to Co-60 (> 99.8) > Ce-144 (98.8) > Sb-125 (83.3) > Ru-106 (79.4) > Mn-55 (54.3) > Cs-137 (24.0). It has been demonstrated that XFPD chelating ligand has potential application in effective removal of various radionuclides from aqueous waste. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.