Periodic Reporting for period 1 - M4WASTE (Microgel-based high-performance smart filtration membranes for liquid nuclear waste treatment)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-01-04 bis 2023-01-03
The rapid development of nuclear energy inevitably produces radioactive wastes either released from nuclear accidents (e.g. Fukushima Daiichi), or from routine operation of nuclear power plants, and thereby brings radioactive threats to environment and human being. In the aqueous liquid nuclear wastes, long half-life radioactive isotopes, 137Cs+ (half-life ~ 30 years) and 90Sr2+ (half-life ~ 28.79 years) represent the most abundant species, while the remediation remains a challenging task. In the past decades, various separation technologies including adsorption, precipitation, flotation, and membrane filtration have been developed, among which the membrane purification still remains one of the most useful water treatment technologies thanks to its high flexibility, easy up-scalability and low energy consumption, etc. However, the conventional filtration membranes have some limitations for nuclide contaminated water including low sorption capacity and selectivity to nuclide ions (e.g. Cs+ and Sr2+), and large and fixed pore size that are unable to retain the ions.
The overall goal of this MSCA-IF project is to develop a new generation of membrane technology that owns a superior adsorption capacity and selectivity for nuclide ions (e.g. Cs+), and a smart water gating function with permeability modulated by Cs+ adsorption process using stimuli-responsive microgels assembled as gates in membraned pores, to efficiently remedy liquid nuclear wastes. So far, the project has achieved most of the deliverables, milestones and exploitable results, though tasks have slightly shifted mainly according to new research findings and/or new research obstacles being developed during the action, and also largely due to the restrictions and measures adopted in the COVID19 pandemic. In particular, the synthesis of functional composite microgels, the membrane filtration for efficient water treatment and the good understandings of the microgel deformation, etc. have been achieved. Good trainings on the researcher and effective knowledge transfer between researcher and the host institution have been obtained throughout the action of the project.
The overall goal of this MSCA-IF project is to develop a new generation of membrane technology that owns a superior adsorption capacity and selectivity for nuclide ions (e.g. Cs+), and a smart water gating function with permeability modulated by Cs+ adsorption process using stimuli-responsive microgels assembled as gates in membraned pores, to efficiently remedy liquid nuclear wastes. So far, the project has achieved most of the deliverables, milestones and exploitable results, though tasks have slightly shifted mainly according to new research findings and/or new research obstacles being developed during the action, and also largely due to the restrictions and measures adopted in the COVID19 pandemic. In particular, the synthesis of functional composite microgels, the membrane filtration for efficient water treatment and the good understandings of the microgel deformation, etc. have been achieved. Good trainings on the researcher and effective knowledge transfer between researcher and the host institution have been obtained throughout the action of the project.
To achieve the objectives, several workpackage(WP)s have been performed, including:
WP 1: Design and synthesis of a series of composite microgels responsive to heavy metal ion (e.g. Cu2+) and nuclide ion (e.g. Cs+).
WP 2: Investigation of microgel deformation in bulk and at air/water interface modulated by ions.
WP 3: Fabrication of membrane filtration with highly adsorptive gel systems.
WP 4:Validation of the gel-based membrane filtration for nuclide ion (Sr2+) remediation
WP5: Researcher Training and Knowledge Transfer.
So far, thermally responsive microgels with sensitiveness to Cu2+ (PNV) and with sensitiveness to Cs+ (PN-DBC) have been synthesized and characterized; the kinetics of microgel deformation both in bulk and at the interface have been revealed; membrane filtration with highly adsorptive gel system has been developed and exhibits great Sr2+ remediation efficiency. The results have been published as journal articles in Chemical Engineering Journal [2022, 442, 136274(doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.136274); 2023, 465, 142752(doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.142752)].
WP 1: Design and synthesis of a series of composite microgels responsive to heavy metal ion (e.g. Cu2+) and nuclide ion (e.g. Cs+).
WP 2: Investigation of microgel deformation in bulk and at air/water interface modulated by ions.
WP 3: Fabrication of membrane filtration with highly adsorptive gel systems.
WP 4:Validation of the gel-based membrane filtration for nuclide ion (Sr2+) remediation
WP5: Researcher Training and Knowledge Transfer.
So far, thermally responsive microgels with sensitiveness to Cu2+ (PNV) and with sensitiveness to Cs+ (PN-DBC) have been synthesized and characterized; the kinetics of microgel deformation both in bulk and at the interface have been revealed; membrane filtration with highly adsorptive gel system has been developed and exhibits great Sr2+ remediation efficiency. The results have been published as journal articles in Chemical Engineering Journal [2022, 442, 136274(doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.136274); 2023, 465, 142752(doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.142752)].
First of all, the state-of-the-art filtration technologies for nuclide contaminated water treatment needs to be combined with an additional process such as sorption, precipitation or complexation with the nuclide ions pre-treated with adsorbent particles before being retained by membrane or with the permeate from the filtration being polished with an ion exchange bed. This complicates the operation of the separation process, and is time- and energy-consuming. This project developed a new generation of high-performance filtration membranes showing a superior adsorption capacity and selectivity to nuclide (e.g. Sr2+, Cs+), and able to straightforwardly recover the nuclide from waste streams, greatly enhancing the remediation efficiency to the contaminated water.
Moreover, the technique is not only highly desirable in nuclear industry, but also exhibits application potentials for sustainable treatment of water in other fields beyond nuclear industry.
Also, this project extends the application of microgel to water treatment area and gains lots of understandings on microgel internal structures and deformation kinetics via rheology and scattering measurements.
In a word, the outcomes of this project will facilitate wide spread amongst worldwide communities of chemical engineering, polymer & colloids to boost research interest and progress in this exciting field of microgel systems and more generally help uptake of the developed membrane technology in industries from nuclear to general water treatment across the world.
Moreover, the technique is not only highly desirable in nuclear industry, but also exhibits application potentials for sustainable treatment of water in other fields beyond nuclear industry.
Also, this project extends the application of microgel to water treatment area and gains lots of understandings on microgel internal structures and deformation kinetics via rheology and scattering measurements.
In a word, the outcomes of this project will facilitate wide spread amongst worldwide communities of chemical engineering, polymer & colloids to boost research interest and progress in this exciting field of microgel systems and more generally help uptake of the developed membrane technology in industries from nuclear to general water treatment across the world.