Intensive synergetic Cs adsorbent incorporated with polymer spongiform for scalable purification without post filtration

Here we report a newly developed synergetic adsorbent consisting of ferrocyanides, diatomites, and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The synergetic adsorbents are objectively designed to adsorb extremely dilute cesium (Cs) effectively. These adsorbents are impregnated into polymer spongifornn, which eliminates the need for post filtration of the adsorbent and solute mixtures and simplifies the water-purification procedure. Radioactive particles were chosen to evaluate the performance of these synergetic adsorbents since radioactive cesium (Cs-137) could be quantified in extremely low concentrations in aqueous solutions. These adsorbents prepared in combination with CNTs demonstrate much higher adsorption of Cs from water, as compared to adsorbents without CNTs. This high level of performance was also verified by Cs-137 adsorption in pure and sea water. This study suggests that CNTs contribute to an enhancement of the adsorption performance in which mesopore effects appear to enrich solutes around the synergetic adsorbents.