A study on the sorption properties of selected clays

Within the study of the adsorption properties of a large group of natural adsorbents the kinetic adsorption was investigated of 85Sr, 60Co and 137Cs in selected clay materials. Most of the studied materials showed favourable values of the distribution coefficient for Cs while for Sr these values were substantially lower, which is caused by the relatively high Ca concentration in raw water. Co adsorption was not studied so thoroughly because of the slow kinetics of the exchange between the solid and liquid phases. The dependence is discussed of the distribution coefficient on H+, Na+ and Ca2+ ion concentrations. As concerns the impact of ions it was found that the retention capacity of the studied materials for the most important radionuclide, namely 137Cs was not affected very much by changes in the acidity of raw water. (Z.M.). 4 figs., 3 tabs., 4 refs