Nanosized Needle Petroleum Coke as a Promising Sorbent for Recovering Radionuclides from Aqueous Solutions

The possibility of using activated needle petroleum coke (NPC), a carbon nanomaterial with the specific surface area of approximately 2500–3500 m2/g, as a sorbent for recovering radionuclides from aqueous solutions was examined. The physicochemical properties of NPC and the distribution coefficients (Kd) of actinides, fission products, and radium on NPC samples in nitric acid, neutral, and weakly alkaline solutions, including those with high salt content, were determined. High salt concentrations favor an increase in Kd, which is untypical of carbon nanomaterials. NPC shows promise for recovering and concentrating uranium, americium, and rare earth element isotopes from contaminated groundwater, river water, and seawater and from solutions of neutralized liquid radioactive waste.