Nilchi - Supervisor, Dr، Jaber Ibn Hayan Research Laboratories, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran
Hadj Mohammadi - Supervisor, Dr
Rasouli Garmarodi - MSc student

A description is given of the preparation and properties of potassium hexacyanocobalt (II) ferrate (II) (KCFC) and the composite, potassium hexacyanocobalt (II) ferrate (II)-polyacrylonitrile (KCFC-PAN). The materials were dried at high temperatures and characterized by chemical analysis, scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma and infrared. The ion exchange of alkaline earth metals and molybdenum on a nonstoichiometric compound K2[CoFe(CN)6] and its PAN based absorber was examined by batch methods. The adsorption of molybdenum from aqueous solutions on KCFC-PAN was investigated and optimized as a function of equilibration time and pH. The materials which were dried at optimum high temperature of 110 °C were found to be stable in water, dilute acids, alkaline solutions and relatively high temperature. The distribution coefficient values Kd for alkaline earth metals, followed the same trend of increase for both sets of absorbers studied, i.e. Ba2+ > Sr2+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+, which closely resembles to the order of the size of the hydrated cations. However, the Kd values show a significant increase for PAN based absorbers in comparison to KCFC absorbers.

Hexacyanoferrates; Polyacrylonitrile binder; sorption properties; distribution coefficient