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Densification study of sodium zirconium phosphate-type ceramic for immobilizing radionuclides of Sr prepared with microwave sintering from uranium tailing sand

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Abstract

Strontium zirconium phosphate (SrZr4(PO4)6) ceramics has high density and chemical inertness, which can safely and effectively immobilize the divalent fission product Sr in the ceramic matrix. In this study, a novel SrZr4(PO4)6 ceramic was synthesized using microwave sintering of uranium tailings. This method features shorter sintering times and efficient energy use. Sr replaces Na in sodium zirconium phosphate (NaZr2(PO4)3) due to similar ionic radii, transforming it into SrZr4(PO4)6 ceramics. The results showed that the sintered samples prepared by holding at 1200 °C for 50 min, which the density of the solidified body reached up to 3.2 g/cm3.The ceramics showcase outstanding leach resistance, with Sr leaching rates far below the nuclear industry standard (1 × 10−2 g m−2 d−1). Similarly, the leaching rates for Na, Zr, P, and Si (10–4–10–6, 10–6–10–8, 10–3–10–4, and 10–2–10−3 g m−2 d−1) are significantly lower than industry standards.

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincere thanks that the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42277458), the Guangdong Province natural sciences fund (No.2023A1515012438), the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission Key Technical Project (No. JCYJ20220531103617040), the Project in the Field of Equipment Advance Research (No.80927015101), the Hunan Provincial Natural Science Young Talent Project Fund (No. 22B0423).

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  1. Jiawei Li and Gaiyuan Chen have contributed equally to this paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Resource Environment and Safety Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, Hunan, People’s Republic of China

    Jiawei Li, Gaiyuan Chen, QiuCai Zhang, Keyou Shi, Tiejun Zhang, Yupeng Xie, Yang Yang, Tao Zhou, Kun Huang, Yuzhen Mai & Yong Liu

  2. College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, People’s Republic of China

    Yong Liu

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Contributions

JL: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Writing—original draft, Writing -review & editing. GC: Supervision, Data analysis. QZ: Project administration, Funding acquisition, Writing—review & editing. KS: Project administration. TZ: Formal analysis. YX: Data Curation. YY: Resources, Visualization. TZ: Auxiliary experimental operation. KH: purchase. YM: equipment regulation. YL: Project administration, Funding acquisition.

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Li, J., Chen, G., Zhang, Q. et al. Densification study of sodium zirconium phosphate-type ceramic for immobilizing radionuclides of Sr prepared with microwave sintering from uranium tailing sand. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 333, 1275–1285 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-024-09372-2

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