Sorption of Radium-226 on Few-Layer Graphene Synthesized under Conditions of Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis

Human industrial activity is accompanied by the formation of vast volumes of water contaminated with radionuclides, including radium-226, which create serious danger to people. Graphene nanostructures are among the most promising materials for purifying water from radionuclides. This work has been devoted to investigating the efficiency of few-layer graphene synthesized under conditions of self-propagating high-temperature synthesis from cellulose and wastes of the woodworking industry (technical lignin, tree bark) for purifying water from radium-226. The key advantage of the method chosen for synthesis of few-layer graphene is the possibility to synthesize large volumes of the material at an acceptable cost, which is extremely important for industrial applications. It has been found that the synthesized samples of few-layer graphene can efficiently purify water from radium-226 (the degree of sorption is higher than 99%). It has also been shown that the degree of desorption upon repeated washing with water does not exceed 0.5%.