Open AccessPreliminary Study of the Potential Graphene Oxide as Radioactive Clinical Wastewater Adsorbability in Nuclear Medicine
Author(s) -
Mohammad Khairul Azhar Abdul Razab,
Mohd Syahir Manso,
An’amt Mohamed Noor,
Suhanis Mohd Rozi,
Nur Fatin Fariha Abd Latif,
Khairul Nizam Jaafar,
Farakhdina Jamaludin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/596/1/012037
Subject(s) - wastewater , radionuclide , oxide , chemistry , extraction (chemistry) , microporous material , adsorption , nuclear chemistry , radioactive waste , graphene , filtration (mathematics) , materials science , chromatography , waste management , organic chemistry , nanotechnology , physics , statistics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , engineering
This paper reports the ability of graphene oxide (GO) as a radionuclide adsorbent material for an alternative approach in nuclear medicine radioactive waste management. Notable physicochemical properties of GO mainly consist of oxygen-containing functional groups on its basal plane and edges site in the form of epoxy, hydroxyl, and carboxyl groups, making it a promising candidate for radionuclide extraction material from aqueous solution. Herein, GO was synthesised via a simplified Hummers method. The radioactive clinical waste, which is urine, was collected right after the scanning procedure and mixed with GO in various concentrations: 1 mg/ml, 1.5 mg/ml, 2 mg/ml, 2.5 mg/ml, and 3 mg/ml. The mixture was then filtered using micropore filter paper, leaving sediments on the filter paper and wastewater residues. The radioactivity of sediment and water residue was determined by using a well counter after 3, 6, 9, and 12 hours of filtration process. The activities of the sediment and water residues were found to be decreased with increasing GO concentrations. The FESEM image revealed high agglomeration structure when the sample was treated with GO of 3 mg/ml concentration. Further analysis via EDX showed the presence of other elements in the urine, which led to its attraction to the GO-layered sheets. This analysis also confirmed the presence of oxygen-functioning group in GO that facilitated the agglomeration process and solidified the radionuclide waste.