title: Retention of barium and europium radionuclides from aqueous solutions on ash-based sorbents by application of radiochemical techniques.
abstract: New materials were synthesized for application in sorption of radionuclides from aqueous solutions. The elaboration was performed by conversion of power plant ash using the hydrothermal method under optimum experimental conditions. Sodalite, Na-Y, and analcime were formed from ash precursor during the treatment, exhibiting thermal stability as revealed by the characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA). The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and pore volume were determined and they presented higher values than plant ash. The ability of the new products to retain Ba and Eu radionuclides was studied in aqueous solutions using (133)Ba and (152)Eu as tracers and γ-ray spectroscopy under batch experiments. The experimental data were modeled by the Langmuir and Freundlich equations, whereas sorption kinetics measurements were performed at 293, 308, and 323K and thermodynamic parameters were calculated. The release of the sorbed ions into the environment was also tested by leaching experiments. The results of these tests indicated that the synthesized materials are very efficient in removing the aforementioned metals from aqueous solutions and can be considered as potential low-cost sorbents in nuclear waste management.
authors: Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Greece. Electronic address: noli@chem.auth.gr.
authors: Fotini
authors: F
authors: Noli
authors: Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Greece; Department of Food Technology, Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Sindos, GR 574 00 Greece.
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Kapnisti
authors: Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Greece; "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iasi, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, 73 Prof. Dr. Docent D. Mangeron Street, Iasi, 700050 Romania.
authors: Gabriela
authors: G
authors: Buema
authors: "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iasi, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, 73 Prof. Dr. Docent D. Mangeron Street, Iasi, 700050 Romania.
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Harja
keywords: Barium; Europium; Leaching; Power plant ash; Radionuclides; Sorption; γ-Ray spectroscopy