Co-60 removal from aqueous solutions using charcoal

Charcoal, treated in different ways, can be used in the separation of Co-60 from aqueous solutions. The cobalt species involved in the process were id entified by high voltage electrophoresis. The best results were obtained us ing thermally and chemically treated charcoal with a maximum retention of 1 .24 mmol cobalt per gram. It was also found that the cobalt was not desorbe d from the chemically treated charcoal when washed with distilled water. Ho wever, it was eluted from the charcoal with 2.3N hydrochloric solution. Sam ples containing Co-60 were analysed during the sorption process by gamma-ra y spectrometry.