Functionalized porous glass for the removal and the confinement of ruthenium from radioactive solutions

An original approach to immobilize ruthenium species and then transform them into RuO2 nanoparticles is presented that uses hybrid-functionalized glasses. First, different chemical graftings of functional groups (acetylacetonate, amine, nitrile, pyridine and thiol) in porous glass were used to extract ruthenium-containing complexes ([Ru(CH3N)4Cl2] and Ru(NO)(NO3)3) from solutions. The best functional groups to selectively coordinate Ru complexes and thus extract it from the solutions have been determined. Then, the obtained Ru-containing composite glass was heated under air to remove the organic species and to obtain RuO2 nanoparticles inside a glass with centimetre scale geometric form. The as-obtained materials were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen physisorbtion measurements, elemental analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD).