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Investigation of uranium(VI) sorption in mesoporous silica gel using gamma spectroscopy

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Abstract

Gamma spectroscopy was used to quantify the accumulation of the uranyl ion (UO22+) into mesoporous silica gel in an aqueous solution under static and pressure-driven flow conditions. The amount of uranyl accumulated into silica gel under static conditions does not trend with the surface area reported by the manufacturer, but it is controlled by the silica gel permeability. Under flow conditions, the amount of uranyl deposited within mesoporous silica gel increases with pore size and ion removal efficiencies ranging from 1.8 to 7.0% were observed. Uranium transport and accumulation within mesoporous silicates is important in environmental monitoring, waste management and remediation.

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Acknowledgements

VCU College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering supported this work. In addition the authors would like to acknowledge the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for partially supporting this work (NRC-HQ-84-14-G-0051, NRC-HQ-13-G-38-0032).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, 401 West Main Street, P.O. Box 843015, Richmond, VA, 23284-3067, USA

    Brandon Dodd, Michael Cartwright, Braden Goddard & Gary Tepper

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  1. Brandon Dodd
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  2. Michael Cartwright
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  3. Braden Goddard
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  4. Gary Tepper
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Correspondence to Brandon Dodd.

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Dodd, B., Cartwright, M., Goddard, B. et al. Investigation of uranium(VI) sorption in mesoporous silica gel using gamma spectroscopy. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 318, 1077–1083 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6108-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6108-6

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