Fundamentals and Applications of Ion Exchange

Ion exchange, as Dr. Robert Kunin has said, is a unique technology since ft occupies a special place in at least three other scientific disciplines - polymer chemistry, polyelectrolytes and adsorption. It may also lay claim to being one of the most widely used industrially. From its origins in water treatment and the sugar industry, through hydrometallurgical applications as diverse as the treatment of plating wastes and the tonnage production of uranium, to the present-day production of ultrapure water for the microelectronics industry, the recovery of valuable materials from sewage effluents and pollution control, the uses of ion exchange are legion. As a result, it is well-nigh impossible to prevent infiltration by the real world of even the most academic of conferences on the subject. It came as no surprise to the Scientific Board of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Mass Transfer & Kinetics of Ion Exchange that one third of the lecturers, and one half of their advanced students, were from Industry, nor that the two round-table discussions, which specially featured industrial applications and future requirements, were well attended and enthusiastically debated.