A group of researchers from the Queensland University of Technology, Australia, have developed new nanomaterials for radioactive waste clean up in water. The group uses titanate nanotubes and nanofibers to remove radioactive cesium and iodine ions, which are the products of uranium fission, in water. Radioactive cesium and iodine ions dissolve easily in water, and the fear is that these fission products could get into the groundwater following an accident like the one in Fukushima earlier this year, and eventually make their way into the food chain. The new sorbents not only can take up the radioactive ions, they can efficiently trap them for safe disposal. According to HuaiYong Zhu, a professor of chemistry, “Based on our earlier work, we have now demonstrated a potentially cost-effective method to remediate cesium and iodine ions from contaminated water by using the unique chemistry of titanate nanotubes and nanofibers to chemisorb these ions…The sorbents take up cesium ions via an exchange with sodium ions in the nanostructures; the rapid uptake of cesium ions eventually triggers a phase transition of the titanate and traps the cesium ions inside permanently for safe disposal.” Developing efficient and cost effective adsorbents is of great significance to the nuclear industry, as well as the environment, given the number of nuclear power stations around the world, and the hundreds more that are in the planning. Additionally, all of these nuclear power plants will be shut down eventually, and the necessary clean up work will need to be done. “The adsorbent of titanate nanofibers and nanotubes not only can be produced from titanium dioxide at low cost, but the ability to tailor these structural features to enhance uptake and trapping of ions can be exploited for further development of new and selective adsorbents for the removal of other toxic cations and anions that may be found in groundwater or wastewater,” Zhu said. The group’s work was published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.