BenzoDODA grafted polymeric resin—Plutonium selective solid sorbent

Highlights: • BenzoDODA grafted polymeric resin was synthesized and evaluated for sorption of Pu(IV). • Fast sorption kinetics for 'Pu(IV)'. • Ease of back extraction of 'Pu' form loaded resin. • Ease of recyclability and fair stability in HNO₃ medium. - Abstract: A new ligand grafted polymeric resin (BenzoDODA SDVB) was synthesized by covalently attaching plutonium selective ligand (BenzoDODA) on to styrene divinyl benzene (SDVB) polymer matrix. BenzoDODA SDVB resin was evaluated for separation and recovery of plutonium(IV) from nitric acid medium. Sorption of Pu(IV) was found to decrease with the increase in nitric acid concentration, with very small sorption above 7.0 M HNO₃. Sorption kinetics was fast enough to achieve the equilibrium within 60 min of contact where the kinetic data fitted well to pseudo-second-order model. Sorption isotherm data fitted well to Langmuir model suggesting chemical interaction between the BenzoDODA moiety and plutonium(IV) ions. Sorption studies with some of representative radionuclides of high level waste showed that BenzoDODA SDVB is selective and therefore could be a promising solid sorbent for separation and recovery of plutonium. Further, the theoretical calculations done on BenzoDODA SDVB resin suggested Pu(NO₃)₄·BenzoDODA (1:1) sorbed complex conformed to generally observed square antiprism geometry of the plutonium complexes, with contributions from oxygen atoms of four nitrate ions as well as from four oxygen atoms present in BenzoDODA (two phenolic ether oxygen atoms and two carbonyl oxygen atoms of amidic moiety).