Research into removal and sequestration of radionuclides from aqueous media is being conducted due to the contamination of aqueous waste effluents and groundwater with highly toxic long-lived radionuclides. These contaminants are introduced into different water sources and streams from legacy nuclear sites, nuclear power plant accidents, continued production of contaminated cooling water from healthy reactors, and other sources. The radionuclide technetium-99 (Tc-99) is a major byproduct (~6%) of uranium-235 fission. It has a long half-life of 2.1x105 years and is a beta emitter with a max energy of 0.29 MeV. Tc-99 is most prevalent in its oxidized form which predominantly exists as pertechnetate (Tc(VII)O4-). A typical strategy for to remove the radionuclide utilizes reducing technetium because it is more reactive and less mobile when in a reduced state. Problematically, Tc-99 has extensive redox chemistry which spans 8 oxidation states. The approach herein involves the remediation of Tc and radionuclides, in general, by utilizing graphene oxide (GO) as a nanostructure platform to investigate the reducing and binding potentials of different functionalized nano surfaces, particularly titanium dioxide. GO serves as an eco-friendly platform to bind titanium dioxide to the surface which then is used to reduce technetium present in aqueous solutions. Titanium dioxide is of great interest because it has already shown to be a good material for removing toxic materials from the environment. Furthermore, it has a strong reducing potential and is found to be chemically inert in a variety of environments. These properties, along with an interaction with GO, makes this composite a suitable material for reducing pertechnetate and potentially binding the reduced technetium.

Use of titanium dioxide/graphene oxide nanocomposites as a platform for the reduction of Technetium-99

254th National Meeting (2017)

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