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Effect of sulfate on sorption of Eu(III) by Na-montmorillonite

  • Madhuri A. Patel , Aishwarya Soumitra Kar EMAIL logo , Sumit Kumar , Mrinal Kanti Das , Vaibhavi V. Raut and Bhupendra S. Tomar
Published/Copyright: September 29, 2018
Radiochimica Acta
From the journal Radiochimica Acta Volume 107 Issue 2

Abstract

Smectite-rich natural clay is being evaluated as the backfill and buffer material in the Indian repository program for the nuclear high level waste disposal. In the natural clay, montmorillonite is one of the major mineral component governing the sorption behavior of various radionuclides. In the present work, influence of sulfate anion on sorption of Eu(III) by Na-montmorillonite has been investigated. The effect of pH and sulfate concentration on Eu(III) sorption by Na-montmorillonite was used to understand the mechanism of sorption process. The Eu(III) sorption by clay at varying pH was virtually pH independent at lower pH (<4), with ion exchange as the dominant mode for Eu(III) sorption. In the pH region of 4–6.5, sharp increase in sorption indicates surface complexation as predominant mechanism. At pH>6.5, the sorption attained a constant value. To deduce the mechanism of sorption of Eu(III) on Na-montmorillonite surface in presence of sulfate, ATR-FTIR spectroscopic investigations has been carried out which indicate the presence of sulfate bearing species on Na-montmorillonite surface. Using spectroscopic findings as a guide, the surface complexation modeling, in absence and presence of sulfate, was successfully carried out.

Keywords: Eu(III); montmorillonite; sorption; sulfate; ATR-FTIR; surface complexation modeling

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. N.L Misra for carrying out the elemental analysis of Na-montmorillonite clay by TXRF. Acknowledgements are due to Shri. B. N. Rath and Dr. Shankar Koiry in recording SEM and IR respectively which helped authors in thorough characterization of clay.

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Received: 2018-04-02
Accepted: 2018-08-29
Published Online: 2018-09-29
Published in Print: 2019-02-25

©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Electrochemical and thermodynamic properties of U4+ and U3+ on Mo electrode in LiCl-KCl eutectic
  3. Speciation of technetium in carbonate media under helium ions and γ radiation
  4. Effect of sulfate on sorption of Eu(III) by Na-montmorillonite
  5. Effect of grain size on radon emanation coefficient, surface and mass exhalation rates and the correlation coefficient between them in different masses of soil and phosphate fertilizer
  6. Ratio primary reference measurement procedure (RPRMP) for the certification of chromium content in biological reference materials
  7. Photon activation analysis of sand samples from Antalya in Turkey with a clinical electron linear accelerator
  8. 68Ga@pyridine-functionalized MCM-41 mesoporous silica: a novel radio labeled composite for diagnostic applications
  9. Kinetics of nonisothermal dehydration of unirradiated and γ-ray irradiated neodymium (III) acetate hydrate
  10. Investigation of radiation shielding properties for some ceramics
https://doi.org/10.1515/ract-2018-2964
Keywords for this article
Eu(III); montmorillonite; sorption; sulfate; ATR-FTIR; surface complexation modeling

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Electrochemical and thermodynamic properties of U4+ and U3+ on Mo electrode in LiCl-KCl eutectic
  3. Speciation of technetium in carbonate media under helium ions and γ radiation
  4. Effect of sulfate on sorption of Eu(III) by Na-montmorillonite
  5. Effect of grain size on radon emanation coefficient, surface and mass exhalation rates and the correlation coefficient between them in different masses of soil and phosphate fertilizer
  6. Ratio primary reference measurement procedure (RPRMP) for the certification of chromium content in biological reference materials
  7. Photon activation analysis of sand samples from Antalya in Turkey with a clinical electron linear accelerator
  8. 68Ga@pyridine-functionalized MCM-41 mesoporous silica: a novel radio labeled composite for diagnostic applications
  9. Kinetics of nonisothermal dehydration of unirradiated and γ-ray irradiated neodymium (III) acetate hydrate
  10. Investigation of radiation shielding properties for some ceramics
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