Improving soil remediation through characterization

1995 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 386-387
Author(s):  
E. C. Buck ◽  
N. L. Dietz ◽  
J. K. Bates
Keyword(s):  
Dust Particles ◽  
Radiochemical Analysis ◽  
Solid Product ◽  
Uranium Contamination ◽  
Physical Separation ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Rocky Flats ◽  
Remediation Strategies ◽  
Bearing Materials ◽  
X Ray Absorption

Operations at former weapons processing facilities in the U. S. have resulted in a large volume of radionuclidecontaminated soils and residues. In an effort to improve remediation strategies and meet environmental regulations, radionuclide-bearing particles in contaminant soils from Fernald in Ohio and the Rocky Flats Plant (RFP) in Colorado have been characterized by electron microscopy. The object of these studies was to determine the form of the contaminant radionuclide, so that it properties could be established [1]. Physical separation and radiochemical analysis determined that uranium contamination at Fernald was not present exclusively in any one size/density fraction [2]. The uranium-contamination resulted from aqueous and solid product spills, air-borne dust particles, and from the operation of an incinerator on site. At RFP the contamination was from the incineration of Pu-bearing materials. Further analysis by x-ray absorption spectroscopy indicated that the majority of the uranium was in the 6+ oxidation state [3].

scholarly journals The Origin of Organic Matter in the Solar System: Evidence from the Interplanetary Dust Particles

2004 ◽  
Vol 213 ◽  
pp. 275-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Flynn ◽  
L. P. Keller ◽  
C. Jacobsen ◽  
S. Wirick
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Interplanetary Dust ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Aqueous Processing ◽  
Interplanetary Dust Particles ◽  
Volatile Elements ◽  
Edge Structure ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Absorption

Interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), ∼ 10μm particles from comets and asteroids, have been collected by NASA from the Earth's stratosphere. We compared carbon X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure (XANES) and Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectra of anhydrous and hydrated interplanetary dust particles and found that anhydrous and hydrated IDPs have similar types and abundances of organic carbon. This is different from results on meteorites, which show that hydrated carbonaceous meteorites contain abundant organic matter, while anhydrous carbonaceous meteorites contain less carbon mostly in elemental form. But all anhydrous carbonaceous meteorites are depleted in moderately volatile and volatile elements in a pattern that suggested they experienced temperatures in excess of 1200°C, a temperature sufficient to destroy any organic matter they originally contained, while many anhydrous IDPs show no evidence of severe heating. These IDP results indicate that the bulk of the pre-biotic organic matter in extraterrestrial materials formed before aqueous processing, possibly by irradiation of C-bearing ices or by a Fisher-Tropsch type process operating in the gas phase of the nebula or in the interstellar medium.

scholarly journals XANES Iron Geochemistry in the Mineral Dust of the Talos Dome Ice Core (Antarctica) and the Southern Hemisphere Potential Source Areas

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valter Maggi ◽  
Giovanni Baccolo ◽  
Giannantonio Cibin ◽  
Barbara Delmonte ◽  
Dariush Hampai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Tierra Del Fuego ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
South American ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Potential Source ◽  
Fe Oxidation ◽  
X Ray Absorption

X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) measurements at the Fe K-edge were performed on aeolian dust in the TALos Dome Ice CorE drilling project (TALDICE) ice core drilled in the peripheral East Antarctic plateau, as well as on Southern Hemisphere potential source area samples. While South American sources show, as expected, a progressive increase in Fe oxidation with decreasing latitude, Antarctic sources show Fe oxidation levels higher than expected in such a cold polar environment, probably because of their very high exposure ages. Results from the TALDICE dust samples are compatible with a South American influence at the site during MIS2 (marine isotopic stage 2, the last and coldest phase of the last glacial period), in particular from Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. However, a contribution from Australia and/or local Antarctic sources cannot be ruled out. Finally, important changes also occurred during the deglaciation and in the Holocene, when the influence of Antarctic local sources seems to have become progressively more important in recent times. This research is the first successful attempt to extract temporal climatic information from X-ray absorption spectroscopic data of the insoluble mineral dust particles contained in an ice core and shows the high potential of this technique.

scholarly journals Uranium uptake onto Magnox sludge minerals studied using EXAFS

2012 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 3095-3104 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. van Veelen ◽  
R. Copping ◽  
G. T. W. Law ◽  
A. J. Smith ◽  
J. R. Bargar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Waste Repository ◽  
Surface Attachment ◽  
Calcium Carbonates ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Remediation Strategies ◽  
Kd Values ◽  
Uranium Uptake ◽  
Co Precipitation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
X Ray Absorption

AbstractAround the world large quantities of sludge wastes derived from nuclear energy production are currently kept in storage facilities. In the UK, the British government has marked sludge removal as a top priority as these facilities are nearing the end of their operational lifetimes. Therefore chemical understanding of uranium uptake in Mg-rich sludge is critical for successful remediation strategies. Previous studies have explored uranium uptake by the calcium carbonate minerals, calcite and aragonite, under conditions applicable to both natural and anthropogenically perturbed systems. However, studies of the uptake by Mg-rich minerals such as brucite [Mg(OH)2], nesquehonite [MgCO3·3H2O] and hydromagnesite [Mg5(CO3)4 (OH)2·4H2O], have not been previously conducted. Such experiments will improve our understanding of the mobility of uranium and other actinides in natural lithologies as well as provide key information applicable to nuclear waste repository strategies involving Mg-rich phases. Experiments with mineral powders were used to determine the partition coefficients (Kd) and coordination of UO22+ during adsorption and co-precipitation with brucite, nesquehonite and hydromagnesite. The Kd values for the selected Mg-rich minerals were comparable or greater than those published for calcium carbonates. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis results showed that the structure of the uranyl-triscarbonato [UO2(CO3)3] species was maintained after surface attachment and that uptake of uranyl ions took place mainly via mineral surface reactions.

X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy of Plutonium Particles at the Rocky Flats US Nuclear Weapons Production Site

2011 ◽  
pp. 377-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven D. Conradson ◽  
David L. Clark ◽  
Christophe den Auwer ◽  
Juan S. Lezama-Pacheco
Keyword(s):  
Absorption Spectroscopy ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Rocky Flats ◽  
Production Site ◽  
X Ray Absorption

scholarly journals Organic matter in interplanetary dust particles

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S251) ◽  
pp. 267-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Flynn ◽  
L. P. Keller ◽  
S. Wirick ◽  
C. Jacobsen
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Thermal Processing ◽  
Interplanetary Dust ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Radiation Processing ◽  
Interplanetary Dust Particles ◽  
Edge Structure ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Absorption

AbstractAnhydrous interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), which are the most mineralogically primitive extraterrestrial materials available for laboratory analysis, contain several percent organic matter. The high O:C and N:C ratios suggest the organic matter in the anhydrous IDPs is significantly less altered by thermal processing than the organic matter in meteorites. X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure (XANES) spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy demonstrate the presence of C=C, most likely as C-rings, C=O, and aliphatic C-H2and C-H3in all the IDPs examined. A D-rich spot, containing material that is believed to have formed in a cold molecular cloud, has C-XANES and infrared spectra very similar to the organic matter in the anhydrous IDPs, possibly indicating a common formation mechanism. However the primitive organic matter in the IDPs differs from the interstellar/circumstellar organic matter characterized by astronomical infrared spectroscopy in the relative strengths of the asymmetric aliphatic C-H2and C-H3absorptions, with the IDP organic having a longer mean chain length. If both types of organic matter originated by the same process, this may indicate the interstellar organic matter has experienced more severe radiation processing than the organic matter in the primitive IDPs.

X-ray microanalysis of thin specimens in the transmission electron microscope at voltages up to 1000 Kv.

1978 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 540-541
Author(s):  
G. Cliff ◽  
M.J. Nasir ◽  
G.W. Lorimer ◽  
N. Ridley
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscope ◽  
Weight Fraction ◽  
Present Series ◽  
Constant Independent ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Image Position ◽  
X Ray Absorption

In a specimen which is transmission thin to 100 kV electrons - a sample in which X-ray absorption is so insignificant that it can be neglected and where fluorescence effects can generally be ignored (1,2) - a ratio of characteristic X-ray intensities, I1/I2 can be converted into a weight fraction ratio, C1/C2, using the equationwhere k12 is, at a given voltage, a constant independent of composition or thickness, k12 values can be determined experimentally from thin standards (3) or calculated (4,6). Both experimental and calculated k12 values have been obtained for K(11<Z>19),kα(Z>19) and some Lα radiation (3,6) at 100 kV. The object of the present series of experiments was to experimentally determine k12 values at voltages between 200 and 1000 kV and to compare these with calculated values.The experiments were carried out on an AEI-EM7 HVEM fitted with an energy dispersive X-ray detector.

SIGMAL: A Program for Calculating L-Shell lonization Cross-Sections

1981 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 198-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.F. Egerton
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sections ◽  
Fortran Program ◽  
Absorption Data ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Atomic Electrons ◽  
Energy Dependent ◽  
Hydrogenic Model ◽  
Electron Energy Loss ◽  
X Ray Absorption ◽  
Shell Ionization

SIGMAL is a short (∼ 100-line) Fortran program designed to rapidly compute cross-sections for L-shell ionization, particularly the partial crosssections required in quantitative electron energy-loss microanalysis. The program is based on a hydrogenic model, the L1 and L23 subshells being represented by scaled Coulombic wave functions, which allows the generalized oscillator strength (GOS) to be expressed analytically. In this basic form, the model predicts too large a cross-section at energies near to the ionization edge (see Fig. 1), due mainly to the fact that the screening effect of the atomic electrons is assumed constant over the L-shell region. This can be remedied by applying an energy-dependent correction to the GOS or to the effective nuclear charge, resulting in much closer agreement with experimental X-ray absorption data and with more sophisticated calculations (see Fig. 1 ).

point-Analysis Using the Extrapolation Method in the Analytical Electron microscope

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 430-431
Author(s):  
Zenji Horita ◽  
Ryuzo Nishimachi ◽  
Takeshi Sano ◽  
Minoru Nemoto
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Extrapolation Method ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Absorption Correction ◽  
Point Analysis ◽  
Analytical Electron ◽  
Analytical Electron Microscope ◽  
Data Points ◽  
Identical Composition ◽  
X Ray Absorption

Absorption correction is often required in quantitative x-ray microanalysis of thin specimens using the analytical electron microscope. For such correction, it is convenient to use the extrapolation method[l] because the thickness, density and mass absorption coefficient are not necessary in the method. The characteristic x-ray intensities measured for the analysis are only requirement for the absorption correction. However, to achieve extrapolation, it is imperative to obtain data points more than two at different thicknesses in the identical composition. Thus, the method encounters difficulty in analyzing a region equivalent to beam size or the specimen with uniform thickness. The purpose of this study is to modify the method so that extrapolation becomes feasible in such limited conditions. Applicability of the new form is examined by using a standard sample and then it is applied to quantification of phases in a Ni-Al-W ternary alloy.The earlier equation for the extrapolation method was formulated based on the facts that the magnitude of x-ray absorption increases with increasing thickness and that the intensity of a characteristic x-ray exhibiting negligible absorption in the specimen is used as a measure of thickness.

EXELFS Studies of Carbon Fibers

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-73
Author(s):  
V. Serin ◽  
K. Hssein ◽  
G. Zanchi ◽  
J. Sévely
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Fibers ◽  
Energy Analysis ◽  
Electron Excitation ◽  
Complex Structures ◽  
High Modulus ◽  
Promising Technique ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Fine Structures ◽  
X Ray Absorption

The present developments of electron energy analysis in the microscopes by E.E.L.S. allow an accurate recording of the spectra and of their different complex structures associated with the inner shell electron excitation by the incident electrons (1). Among these structures, the Extended Energy Loss Fine Structures (EXELFS) are of particular interest. They are equivalent to the well known EXAFS oscillations in X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Due to the EELS characteristic, the Fourier analysis of EXELFS oscillations appears as a promising technique for the characterization of composite materials, the major constituents of which are low Z elements. Using EXELFS, we have developed a microstructural study of carbon fibers. This analysis concerns the carbon K edge, which appears in the spectra at 285 eV. The purpose of the paper is to compare the local short range order, determined by this way in the case of Courtauld HTS and P100 ex-polyacrylonitrile carbon fibers, which are high tensile strength (HTS) and high modulus (HM) fibers respectively.

Chemical and orientational imaging of polymeric samples

1994 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 68-69
Author(s):  
H. Ade ◽  
B. Hsiao ◽  
G. Mitchell ◽  
E. Rightor ◽  
A. P. Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ethylene Terephthalate ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Brookhaven National Laboratory ◽  
Carbonyl Groups ◽  
Aromatic Rings ◽  
Edge Structure ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Scanning Transmission ◽  
Polymeric Samples ◽  
X Ray Absorption

We have used the Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscope at beamline X1A (X1-STXM) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) to acquire high resolution, chemical and orientation sensitive images of polymeric samples as well as point spectra from 0.1 μm areas. This sensitivity is achieved by exploiting the X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) of the carbon K edge. One of the most illustrative example of the chemical sensitivity achievable is provided by images of a polycarbonate/pol(ethylene terephthalate) (70/30 PC/PET) blend. Contrast reversal at high overall contrast is observed between images acquired at 285.36 and 285.69 eV (Fig. 1). Contrast in these images is achieved by exploring subtle differences between resonances associated with the π bonds (sp hybridization) of the aromatic groups of each polymer. PET has a split peak associated with these aromatic groups, due to the proximity of its carbonyl groups to its aromatic rings, whereas PC has only a single peak.

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