A novel floating adsorbent for cesium based on Shirasu balloon modified with magnetite and Prussian blue.

Shirasu balloon (SB) is a hollow glassy sphere produced from volcanic deposits by heating that can float up on water owing to its hollow structure. In this study, a novel adsorbent for the removal of cesium ion in water was developed by the modification of the surface of the SBs with magnetite (Mag) and Prussian blue (PB). The developed adsorbent (PB-Mag-SB) was characterized by elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and the magnetism of the adsorbent.

Interpretation of the interaction between cesium ion and some clay minerals based on their structural features.

Cesium (Cs) is known to have a strong interaction with various clay minerals; however, it is not interpreted from the structure of clay minerals and the adsorption isotherm. The adsorption interactions between Cs and hydrobiotite (H-Bio), biotite (Bio), vermiculite (Verm), and exfoliated vermiculite (E-Verm) were evaluated by analyzing adsorption isotherm, basal spacing, and adsorption/desorption experiments. The Cs adsorption of H-Bio and Verm fitted well to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm, while the Cs adsorption of Bio and E-Verm fitted well to the Freundlich adsorption isotherm.

Determination of total mercury in biological samples using flow injection CVAAS following tissue solubilization in formic acid.

Total mercury in biological samples was determined by flow injection (FI) cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS) following tissue solubilization with formic acid. A mixture of potassium bromide and potassium bromate was used to decompose organomercury compounds prior to their reduction with sodium borohydride. A gold amalgam system was used to achieve lower detection limits when required.

Formic acid solubilization of marine biological tissues for multi-element determination by ETAAS and ICP-AES.

A simple, fast method is described for the determination of Ag, As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Ni, and Se in marine biological tissues by electrothermal atomic-absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) and Na, Ca, K, Mg, Fe, Cu, and Mn by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Solubilization of the biological tissue was achieved by using formic acid with vortex mixing followed by heating to 50 degrees C in an ultrasonic bath. Once solubilized, the tissues were diluted to an appropriate volume with water for analysis.