David T. Hobbs

Strontium and Actinide Separations from High Level Nuclear Waste Solutions Using Monosodium Titanate 1. Simulant Testing

Pretreatment processes at the Savannah River Site will separate {sup 90}Sr, alpha-emitting and radionuclides (i.e., actinides) and {sup 137}Cs prior to disposal of the high-level nuclear waste. Separation of {sup 90}Sr and alpha-emitting radionuclides occurs by ion exchange/adsorption using an inorganic material, monosodium titanate (MST). Previously reported testing with simulants indicates that the MST exhibits high selectivity for strontium and actinides in high ionic strength and strongly alkaline salt solutions. This paper provides a summary of data acquired to measure the performance of MST to remove strontium and actinides from actual waste solutions. These tests evaluated the effects of ionic strength, mixing, elevated alpha activities, and multiple contacts of the waste with MST. Tests also provided confirmation that MST performs well at much larger laboratory scales (300-700 times larger) and exhibits little affinity for desorption of strontium and plutonium during washing.

Technetium-99 MAS NMR Spectroscopy of a Cationic Framework Material that Traps TcO4− Ions†

99Tc magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectra show that TcO4- ions, which are generated by nuclear fission and can contaminate the environment, can be trapped within the channels and cavities of a cationic framework material (see picture). These spectra are among the first 99Tc MAS NMR spectra reported to date, and show that the TcO4- ions can be efficiently removed from simulated nuclear waste solutions.

Separation of Americium from Curium by Oxidation and Ion Exchange

Nuclear energy has the potential to be a clean alternative to fossil fuels, but in order for it to play a major role in the US, many questions about the back end of the fuel cycle must be addressed. One of these questions is the difficult separation of americium from curium. Here, we report the oxidation of Am in two systems, perchloric acid and nitric acid and the affect of changing the acid has on the oxidation. K(d) values were observed and a direct separation factor was calculated and was seen to be as high as 20 for four metal(IV) pillared phosphate phosphonate inorganic organic hybrid ion exchange materials. These ion exchangers are characterized by very low selectivity for cations with low charge but extremely high uptake of ions of high charge.

Advances in Inorganic and Hybrid Ion Exchangers

Ion-exchange materials have been used in industrial applications for well over one hundred years. Since the introduction of polymer based ion exchangers more than seventy years ago, the use of these materials has grown and has dominated the commercial market for more than half a century. Inorganic and hybrid inorganic/organic materials continue to garner attention due to their chemical and radiation stability and effectiveness over wide range of conditions. Driving these research efforts is the desire to improve the selectivity and increase the capacity of the ion-exchanger for a particular application. This article presents a review of the literature detailing the syntheses, characterization, and ion-exchange performance of inorganic and hybrid ion-exchange materials.

Titanates deliver metal ions to human monocytes

Amorphous peroxotitantes (APT) are insoluble titanium-based particles that bind a variety of metal compounds with high affinity; these particles could be sequestered locally in a solid phase to deliver metal-based drugs. Previous studies have confirmed the ‘biodelivery’ of metals from metal–APT complexes to fibroblasts, but not monocytes. Our goal in the current study was to use monocytic cytokine secretion to assess delivery of gold or platinum-based compounds from APT to human THP1 monocytes. Cytokine secretion was not triggered by APT alone or metal–APT complexes. In monocytes activated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), APT alone enhanced or suppressed IL1β or IL6 secretion, yet TNFα secretion was unaffected. Complexes of APT and Au(III) or cis-platin altered LPS-activated IL6 or IL1β secretion most, TNFα least. Our results suggest that the APT deliver metals to monocytes.

Titanate particles as agents to deliver gold compounds to fibroblasts and monocytes

Titanates are inorganic compounds with high affinity for specific metal ions or metal compounds, including gold. We have previously demonstrated that both monosodium titanate (MST) and amorphous peroxo-titanate (APT) alone do not suppress cellular metabolism of several cell types, and we have shown that MST and APT adsorb and release gold compounds in biological salt solutions. In the current study, we extend this work and show that MST and APT loaded with two gold compounds deliver sufficient levels of these compounds to alter the metabolism of mammalian cells. Fibroblasts (L929) or monocytes (THP1) were exposed to MST and APT loaded with either Au(III) or Auranofin(R), a Au(I)-organic compound, for 24-72 h, after which succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity of the cells was measured using the MTT method. MST or APT alone did not suppress SDH activity of either cell type. AF and Au(III) alone suppressed SDH activity completely above 2 muM or 300 muM, respectively. APT and MST loaded with either gold compound suppressed L929 fibroblast SDH activity by 30-80% after 72 h, but Au(III)-loaded APT was more potent than AF-loaded APT. Monocyte SDH activity was not affected by any loaded titanate. Our results suggest that titanates could be used for solid phase delivery of metal compounds to affect mammalian cell function of some types of cells.

Peroxotitanate- and monosodium metal-titanate compounds as inhibitors of bacterial growth

Sodium titanates are ion-exchange materials that effectively bind a variety of metal ions over a wide pH range. Sodium titanates alone have no known adverse biological effects but metal-exchanged titanates (or metal titanates) can deliver metal ions to mammalian cells to alter cell processes in vitro. In this work, we test a hypothesis that metal-titanate compounds inhibit bacterial growth; demonstration of this principle is one prerequisite to developing metal-based, titanate-delivered antibacterial agents. Focusing initially on oral diseases, we exposed five species of oral bacteria to titanates for 24 h, with or without loading of Au(III), Pd(II), Pt(II), and Pt(IV), and measuring bacterial growth in planktonic assays through increases in optical density. In each experiment, bacterial growth was compared with control cultures of titanates or bacteria alone. We observed no suppression of bacterial growth by the sodium titanates alone, but significant (p < 0.05, two-sided t-tests) suppression was observed with metal-titanate compounds, particularly Au(III)-titanates, but with other metal titanates as well. Growth inhibition ranged from 15 to 100% depending on the metal ion and bacterial species involved. Furthermore, in specific cases, the titanates inhibited bacterial growth 5- to 375-fold versus metal ions alone, suggesting that titanates enhanced metal-bacteria interactions. This work supports further development of metal titanates as a novel class of antibacterials.

Peroxotitanates for biodelivery of metals

Metal-based drugs are largely undeveloped in pharmacology. One limiting factor is the systemic toxicity of metal-based compounds. A solid-phase, sequestratable delivery agent for local delivery of metals could reduce systemic toxicity, facilitating new drug development in this nascent area. Amorphous peroxotitanates (APT) are ion-exchange materials with high affinity for several heavy metal ions and have been proposed to deliver or sequester metal ions in biological contexts. In the current study, we tested a hypothesis that APTs are able to deliver metals or metal compounds to cells. We exposed fibroblasts (L929) or monocytes (THP1) to metal-APT materials for 72 h in vitro and then measured cellular mitochondrial activity (SDH-MTT method) to assess the biological impact of the metal-APT materials versus metals or APT alone. APT alone did not significantly affect cellular mitochondrial activity, but all metal-APT materials suppressed the mitochondrial activity of fibroblasts (by 30-65% of controls). The concentration of metal-APT materials required to suppress cellular mitochondrial activity was below that required for metals alone, suggesting that simple extracellular release of the metals from the metal-APT materials was not the primary mechanism of mitochondrial suppression. In contrast to fibroblasts, no metal-APT material had a measurable effect on THP1 monocyte mitochondrial activity, despite potent suppression by metals alone. This latter result suggested that biodelivery by metal-APT materials may be cell type-specific. Therefore, it appears that APTs are plausible solid-phase delivery agents of metals or metal compounds to some types of cells for potential therapeutic effect.

Recent advances in f-element separations based on a new method for the production of pentavalent americium in acidic solution

The peroxydisulfate anion has long been used for the preparation of hexavalent americium (AmVI) from the normally stable AmIII valence state in mildly acidic solutions. However, there has been no satisfactory means to directly prepare the pentavalent state (AmV) in that medium. Some early literature reports indicated that the peroxydisulfate oxidation was incomplete, and silver ion catalysis in conjunction with peroxydisulfate became accepted as the means to ensure quantitative generation of AmVI. Incomplete oxidation would be expected to leave residual AmIII, or to produce AmV in treated solutions. However, until recently, the use of peroxydisulfate as an AmV reagent has not been reported. Here, parameters influencing the oxidation were investigated, including peroxydisulfate and acid concentration, temperature, duration of oxidative treatment, and the presence of higher concentrations of other redox active metals such as plutonium. Using optimized conditions determined here, quantitative AmV was prepared in an acidic solution and the UV/Vis extinction coefficients of the AmV 513 nm peak were measured over a range of nitric acid concentrations. The utility of AmV for separations from the lanthanides and curium by solvent extraction, organic column chromatography and inorganic ion exchangers was also investigated.

Plasma filtering techniques for nuclear waste remediation.

Nuclear waste cleanup is challenged by the handling of feed stocks that are both unknown and complex. Plasma filtering, operating on dissociated elements, offers advantages over chemical methods in processing such wastes. The costs incurred by plasma mass filtering for nuclear waste pretreatment, before ultimate disposal, are similar to those for chemical pretreatment. However, significant savings might be achieved in minimizing the waste mass. This advantage may be realized over a large range of chemical waste compositions, thereby addressing the heterogeneity of legacy nuclear waste.