Radioactive wastes containing a variety of radionuclides severely pollute the environment. Fission product like strontium 89Sr and 90Sr with half-lives of 51 days and 29 years, respectively, can contaminate underlying layers of soil and groundwater. Strontium's resemblance to calcium enables its easy incorporation into bone, and by virtue of being a very strong β-emitter, it leads to the development of bone sarcoma and leukemia. It is, thus, quite necessary to remove strontium, one of the most hazardous elements, from wastewater.
The literature describes many sorbent materials to remove larger concentrations of strontium ions. However, it remains challenging to develop new materials for removing strontium ions at ppb-levels. Thus, a cross-linked polyzwitterion/anion for the removal of strontium from aqueous solutions solving the aforementioned problems is desired.