Alkali Activation of Fly Ash in the Presence of Sodium Nitrate

The use of fly ash as a precursor for geopolymer has been investigated during the last decades for various applications. The aim of this research was to study the effect of nitrate on the formation and evolution of fly ash-based geopolymers, in order to assess their applicability as waste immobilization matrices. These may be of interest in order to treat waste streams from agricultural runoff and various industries including the nuclear industry. Fly ash was alkali-activated using NaOH solutions of various alkalinities, to which nitrates were added as NaNO3. The samples were cured at 40֯C for different periods and characterized by X-Ray diffractometry, Fourier transform mid-Infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and compressive strength measurements. The content of neo-formed crystalline phases in fly ash-based geopolymers was found to be lower than in metakaolin-based systems studied previously. The nature of the minerals formed in nitrate-free samples differed from those obtained in corresponding metakaolin-based geopolymers. Nevertheless, the dominant phase formed in the presence of nitrate at sufficiently high alkalinity was nitrate-cancrinite, as reported for metakaolin-based geopolymers, regardless of the type of fly-ash used. Although the presence of nitrates was found to have a promoting effect on the geopolymerization process of metakaolin-based geopolymers, it was found to inhibit the processes in fly-ash-based geopolymers.The formation of crystalline phases in FA-based geopolymers suggests that these materials may be used for immobilizing various hazardous species, while FA-based geopolymers containing the nitrate-cancrinite can be considered as a promising candidate for immobilizing radionuclides from radioactive wastes.

An Insight into the Correlation between Chemical Composition Changes of Aluminum-Iron-Polyphosphate Glasses and Thermal Properties

The present study aimed to investigate the influence of the gradual substitution of Fe2O3 by Al2O3 on the thermal properties of polyphosphate glasses. The conducted considerations based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and heating microscopy thermal analysis provided much essential information about the correlation between glass chemical composition and its characteristic parameters, such as transformation temperature, specific heat, crystallization temperature, crystallization enthalpy, the activation energy of crystal growth, melting temperature, and Angell glass thermal stability. The obtained estimation of viscosity changes as a function of temperature could be very helpful for researchers to correctly plan the vitrification process and thus radioactive waste immobilization. A precise analysis of DSC curves and X-ray diffraction patterns revealed the possibility of crystallization process design in order to create materials with different levels of crystallinity and phase composition. The drawn conclusions allow choosing the glass with the optimal concentration of Al2O3 and Fe2O3, which ensures the relatively low melting temperature, viscosity, and glass crystallization ability, with application potential in nuclear waste immobilization.

Dissolution kinetics of a sodium borosilicate glass in Tris buffer solutions: Impact of Tris concentration and acid (HCl/HNO3) identity

Understanding the corrosion behavior of glasses in near-neutral environments is crucial for many technologies including glasses for regenerative medicine and nuclear waste immobilization. To maintain consistent pH values throughout experiments...