Borosilicate Glass-Ceramics Containing Zirconolite and Powellite for RE- and Mo-Rich Nuclear Waste Immobilization

In order to increase the loading of rare earth- and molybdenum-rich high-level waste in the waste forms, zirconolite- and powellite-based multi-phase borosilicate glass-ceramics were synthesized via an in-situ heat treatment method. The effects of the CTZ (CaO, TiO2 and ZrO2) content on the crystallization, microstructure and aqueous durability of the multi-phase borosilicate glass-ceramics were studied. The results indicate that the increase of CTZ content can promote crystallization. The glass-ceramics presented even structures when the CTZ content was ≥ 40 wt%. For the glass-ceramic with 40 wt% CTZ, only zirconolite and powellite crystals were detected and powellite crystals were mainly distributed around zirconolite, whereas for the glass-ceramics with 50 wt% CTZ, perovskite was detected. Furthermore, the leaching rates of Na, Ca, Mo and Nd were in the ×10−3, ×10−4, ×10−3 and ×10−5 g·m−2·d·−1 orders of magnitude on the 28th leaching day, respectively.

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...

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Simplified Sodium Borosilicate Glasses: The Effect of Composition on Structure and Dynamics

Fusion of valuable material properties has lent the acceptance of sodium borosilicate (NBS) glasses for nuclear waste immobilization. In spite of popularity, the mechanisms associated to these properties are yet...