Influence of the Nanotube Morphology and Intercalated Species on the Sorption Properties of Hybrid Layered Vanadium Oxides: Application for Cesium Removal from Aqueous Streams

The present paper examines the impact that the nanotube morphology and organic or inorganic intercalated species may have on the cesium sorption by layered vanadium oxides prepared with the use of hexadecylamine as a structure-directing agent. The hybrid material represented by a chemical formula of (V2O5)(VO2)1.03(C16H36N)1.46(H2O)x was achieved through accelerated microwave-assisted synthesis carefully optimized to ensure the best compromise between the scroll-like morphology and the hydrophobic character. To enhance its dispersibility in water, this sample was subsequently modified by progressive replacement of the C16H36N+ units by NH4+ cations. The final materials represented a stacking of lamellar sheets with a worse scroll-like morphology. Both the optimization procedure and the template removal were monitored on the basis of scanning and transmission electronic microscopy, X-ray diffraction, infra-red spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and elemental analysis, supplemented by adequate simulations methods providing the reference IR spectra and XRD patterns for comparison or the textural parameters of the samples. The comparison of the cesium sorption from either a 4:1 ethanol–water mixture or aqueous solutions pointed toward the solubility of intercalated cations in the bulk solution as the main factor limiting their displacement from the interlayer space by the oncoming cesium ones. The sample obtained after 70% exchange with NH4+ exhibited a maximum sorption capacity of 1.4 mmol g−1 from CsNO3 aqueous solutions and its retention efficiency remained significant from low-concentration Cs solutions in river or sea water.

Modeling cesium migration through Opalinus clay: a benchmark for single- and multi-species sorption-diffusion models

Sophisticated modeling of the migration of sorbing radionuclides in compacted claystones is needed for supporting the safety analysis of deep geological repositories for radioactive waste, which requires robust modeling tools/codes. Here, a benchmark related to a long term laboratory scale diffusion experiment of cesium, a moderately sorbing radionuclide, through Opalinus clay is presented. The benchmark was performed with the following codes: CORE2DV5, Flotran, COMSOL Multiphysics, OpenGeoSys-GEM, MCOTAC and PHREEQC v.3. The migration setup was solved with two different conceptual models, i) a single-species model by using a look-up table for a cesium sorption isotherm and ii) a multi-species diffusion model including a complex mechanistic cesium sorption model. The calculations were performed for three different cesium boundary concentrations (10−3, 10−5, 10−7 mol / L) to investigate the models/codes capabilities taking into account the nonlinear sorption behavior of cesium. Generally, good agreement for both single- and multi-species benchmark concepts could be achieved, however, some discrepancies have been identified, especially near the boundaries, where code specific spatial (and time) discretization had to be improved to achieve better agreement at the expense of longer computation times. In addition, the benchmark exercise yielded useful information on code performance, setup options, input and output data management, and post processing options. Finally, the comparison of single-species and multi-species model concepts showed that the single-species approach yielded generally earlier breakthrough, because this approach accounts neither for cation exchange of Cs+ with K+ and Na+, nor K+ and Na+ diffusion in the pore water.

Radioactive contaminants binding on pillared layered clays

The selective sorption of radioactive cesium and strontium on Pillared Layered Clays was investigated. Two reference samples were initially used in experiments, both in vitro and in vivo. An improved nanocomposite-pillared clay with different organization and structural evolution of its building blocks, was constructed, characterized by several methods and employed in exchange experiments. The results derived from the improved material administration in ruminants for strontium and cesium sorption were positive and further investigation is under way.

Study of the sorption and modelling of cesium by a Brazilian bentonite using PHREEQC

ABSTRACTTo estimate the cesium sorption by the bentonite and to obtain the isotherms, some batch-adsorption experiments are being carried out, being the Kd (retardation coefficient) calculated from these isotherms. One-dimensional flow cell was constructed to measure the bentonite permeability regarding to a cesium solution, which results will be used to evaluate the diffusion coefficient – D. It will be used the PHREEQC software to model the transport of the cesium radionuclide through this bentonite with the Kd and D data. The modelling of radionuclide transport in the Brazilian materials will contribute to evaluate the efficiency of multi-barriers system of the national repository, because it is one of its safety criteria.

Cesium Sorption and Desorption on Glauconite, Bentonite, Zeolite and Diatomite

This study is devoted to studying the sorption of 137Cs on mineral sorbents at a wide pH range, from 2 to 10, as well as to studying sorption mechanisms. In order to obtain the most reliable sorption characteristics, samples of high purity were examined as sorbents: bentonite, glauconite, zeolite, and diatomite. A detailed description of their mineral composition, cation exchange capacity and specific surface of sorbents is given. XRD, XRF, FTIR, SEM, and BET adsorption methods were used for assaying. The sorption and desorption values were identified for each sorbent. As a result of the conducted research, it can be concluded that 137Cs sorption mainly occurs through the exchange reaction on zeolite, glauconite and bentonite. The highest cesium Kd was observed on zeolite due to its high CEC and amounted to 4.05 mg/L at pH 7. The higher sorption capacity of glauconite in comparison with bentonite is primarily due to the high layer charge which is mainly localized in tetrahedral sheets, and to the existence of highly selective sorption sites (frayed edge sites) on the glauconite surface. Diatomite showed the lowest sorption capacity provided by the presence of a small quantity of smectite and kaolinite in its composition. The values of desorption increase in the following order: zeolite < bentonite ~ diatomite < glauconite.