Role of Nanoporous Materials in Radiochemical Separations for Biomedical Applications

This review provides a comprehensive summary on the utility of nanomaterials as effective sorbents in the column chromatographic separation of radionuclides for medical applications. Owing to their extremely small size and large surface areas, together with their ability to functionalize with various chemical groups, they have attracted considerable attention as a new class of sorbent material in radiochemical separations. The utility of some nanostructured sorbent materials for radiochemical separation have shown very promising features, but majority of them are basically unexplored and systematic investigations are warranted on both synthesis methods as well as sorption characteristic studies. Although the application of nanomaterials in radiochemical separations is still in its early stage, with further research into their synthesis, behavior and application, nanomaterials have great potential to become the ‘next generation’ sorbent for the column chromatographic separation. The studies included in this review highlight the potential of nanomaterials for radiochemical separation on a practical scale. It begins with an overview of the radiochemical separation, describes the objectives, summarizes the role of the nanosorbents and finally describes the present status and scope for the future.