Conveniently synthesis of porous crown-based resin with efficient ⁹⁰Sr capture from highly acidic wastewater

Effective removal of radioactive Sr-90 is crucial for both management of spent nuclear fuel and recovery of radioactive strontium resources, while it's still a great challenge due to the presence of high acid levels and intense radiation. Herein, a novel porous resin (DtBuCH18C6@CG-71) were synthesized by introducing 4 ',4 ''(5 '')-di-tert-butyldicyclohexano-18-crown-6 onto CG-71 resin using vacuum impregnation. The DtBuCH18C6@CG-71 resin maintains superior adsorption abilities in extreme conditions, including high acid resistance (3-12 mol/L HNO3), substantial gamma-irradiation (200 kGy Co-60), and elevated temperatures (50-100 degree celsius). Impressively, even when exposed to a high concentration of matrix ions (59 elemental ions), the Sr(II) adsorption ratio onto DtBuCH18C6@CG-71 resin remains near 100 % even in highly acidic condition, which performance outpaces most of commercial resins. Dynamic column tests using an automated separation system further confirmed the superior ability of DtBuCH18C6@CG-71 in term of extracting Sr(II) from wastewater. Given its impressive features, cost-effectiveness, and scalability, DtBuCH18C6@CG-71 resin holds promising potential for Sr-90 disposal in nuclear wastewater.