Biodegradable antifreeze foam stabilized by lauryl alcohol for radioactive surface decontamination

Abstract Conventional water-based detergents cannot remove radioactive contamination on the surface below 0 °C. In order to solve this problem, a biodegradable antifreeze foam, containing the antifreeze, the chelating agent and the surfactant in the low pH complex system, has been developed with the small molecule lauryl alcohol (LA) as the foam stabilizer. The developed foam being with short decontamination time which is easy to use and collect, can significantly reduce the amount of radioactive waste. The foam has good stability and decontamination efficiency as low as − 10 °C. The stabilization mechanism of LA on foam was studied. At the range of from 0 to − 10 °C, the decontamination rates of simulated radioactive cesium (Cs) and strontium (Sr) pollution are all above 90% on surfaces with different roughness such as glass, stainless steel, ceramic tile, marble and paint. Graphic Abstract