F. Chitry et al., New cesium-selective hydrophilic ligands: UV measures of their interactions toward Cs and Cs/Na separation by nanofiltration complexation, J PHYS CH A, 104(17), 2000, pp. 4121-4128
Separating traces of cesium from aqueous medium containing large sodium amo
unts is a difficult problem because cesium and sodium ions have a similar b
ehavior in aqueous medium. We selected a highly cesium-selective ligand in
aqueous medium, and we determined the best conditions for using this ligand
in a nanofiltration-complexation process in order to achieve Cs+/Na+ separ
ation. We also tried to find a relation between the ligand structure and it
s activity toward cesium complexation. Tetrahydroxylated bis-crown-6 calix[
4]arene was found to be very cesium selective (S = beta(Cs+)/beta(Na+) = 66
00). Combined with a nanofiltration process, this ligand helped reaching 90
% cesium retention in;a highly concentrated aqueous medium ([NaNO3] = 3 mol
/L).