Abstract
Alkali-activated metakaolin geopolymers are attracting interest in the conditioning of nuclear wastes, especially for their ability to immobilise cationic species. However, there is limited understanding of the chemical interactions between the encapsulated spent ion-exchangers, used for decontaminating waste water, and the host aluminosilicate matrix. The lack of such understanding makes it difficult to predict the long-term stability of the waste form. In this study, the suitability of using metakaolin based geopolymer as a matrix for encapsulation of titanate-type ion-exchangers loaded with non-radioactive Sr was investigated for the first time, via spectroscopic and microstructural inspection of the encapsulated ion-exchangers and the aluminosilicate gel matrix. The microstructural and chemical properties of metakaolin geopolymers remained stable after encapsulating titanate type spent ion-exchangers, performed desirably as host materials for conditioning of Sr-loaded titanate ion-exchangers.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 12116-12126 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Dalton Transactions |
Volume | 48 |
Issue number | 32 |
Early online date | 22 Jul 2019 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 28 Aug 2019 |
Funding
This work was funded by the EPSRC-Japan Civil Nuclear Collaboration programme, grant EP/P013171/1, between the University of Sheffield and Hokkaido University. This research was performed in part at the MIDAS Facility, at the University of Sheffield, which was established with support from the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The authors would like to thank Fortum for supplying the ion exchangers for this study, and PQ Corporation and Imerys for supplying sodium silicate and metakaolin, respectively.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Inorganic Chemistry
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Xinyuan Ke
- Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering - Senior Lecturer
- Centre for Climate Adaptation & Environment Research (CAER)
Person: Research & Teaching, Core staff
Equipment
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Large chamber variable pressure scanning electron microscope (SEM)
Material and Chemical Characterisation (MC2)Facility/equipment: Equipment
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Raman confocal microscope RENISHAM INVIA
Material and Chemical Characterisation (MC2)Facility/equipment: Equipment