Removal of surface cesium ion contamination by peelable composite coating with a highly effective magnetic adsorbent

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds 2023-10, Vol.958, p.170280, Article 170280
• Main Authors: Tian, Ye, Ma, Lin, Gao, Ningjie, Zhang, Wanyu, Izuchukwu, Nwokolo Kenneth, Liu, Guoqiang, Liu, Fuchun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cesium; Magnetic adsorbent; Peelable coating; Prussian blue analogs
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2023.170280

Conventional methods used during nuclear facility decommissioning to remove radioactive contamination from equipment surfaces produced a lot of trash and could result in secondary contamination. Peelable coatings, on the other hand, have been frequently employed for surface decontamination because of their great efficacy, peelability, flexibility, and compatibility with various substrates. Herein, we developed a novel efficient magnetic cesium ion adsorbent (Qmax = 249 mg/g) and combined it with polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to design a peelable composite coating. The composite coating can be used to decontaminate a variety of surfaces, including aluminum, plexiglas, marble, and stainless steel, with a combined decontamination efficiency of more than 95%, especially when applied to stainless steel surfaces with a decontamination rate of 98.69%. The coating also possesses excellent mechanical properties and recyclability, allowing easy recovery of the film-forming material and magnetic adsorbent recovery at the end of the decontamination process. •A new idea was applied to prepare a magnetic adsorbent with high adsorption efficiency for cesium.•The peelable composite coating was prepared by using polyvinyl alcohol, hydroxyethyl cellulose and magnetic adsorption.•The maximum decontamination efficiency of the peelable composite coating was 98.69%.•The peelable composite coating can be recovered from the film-forming material as well as the adsorbent by a simple method.