Synthesis of porous resorcinol-formaldehyde resins and study of their sorption characteristics toward Cs in highly mineralized alkaline media

The present work was devoted to study of sorption parameters of resorcinol-formaldehyde resins synthesized through introduction of an inorganic filler (in amounts of 10 and 25 wt.%) with its subsequent leaching. The surface morphology and composition of ion-exchange resins have been investigated by means of the method of scanning electron microscopy. The effect of internal diffusion on the peculiarities of the ion-exchange process has been determined. It has been revealed that the ion-exchangers destruction upon a prolonged contact with highly alkaline solutions is followed by the decrease of internal diffusion coefficients and selectivity toward Cs-137 micro-quantities. The sorption properties of resins under dynamic conditions at high solution feeding rates have been studied. A sample with the highest efficiency of Cs-137 removal from highly mineralized solutions has been identified.