Adsorption of 103Ru from aqueous solutions by clinoptilolite

The aim of this research is adsorption of ruthenium by natural zeolite, clinoptilolite. The experimental conditions were optimized in order to obtain higher adsorption capacity and the study was done under optimum conditions. Maximal adsorption capacity was obtained using ¹⁰³Ru as a tracer at 25 °C, pH 2.0 and contact time of 10 h and found to be 0.074 meq g^?1. Ruthenium measurments were done using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and gamma spectrometer methods. Break points were calculated from breakthrough curve at the 1%, 5% and 50%. The obtained results are respectively 2.8, 4.5 and 19.5 mL, which are equal to 2.5 × 10^?3, 1.35 × 10^?2 and 5.85 × 10^?2 meq g^?1. Desorption behavior of column packed zeolite using some eluents was also investigated. The highest recovery of 97.4 ± 0.2% was obtained using 2 mol L^?1 HCl solution as an eluent. The results of this study can be used for separation and preconcentration of ruthenium.