Adsorption/Desorption Performances of Simulated Radioactive Nuclide Cs⁺ on the Zeolite-Rich Geopolymer from the Hydrothermal Synthesis of Fly Ash

Abstract

The operation of nuclear power plants generates a large amount of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste liquid. Zeolite-rich geopolymers, which are synthesized under hydrothermal conditions from industrial waste fly ash, can effectively immobilize radioactive nuclides. In this study, the synthesis law of zeolite-rich geopolymers and the adsorption/desorption performances of radioactive nuclide Cs+ were researched using XRD, SEM and ICP. The results show that the increase in curing temperatures and NaOH concentrations leads to the transformation of Y-type zeolite to chabazite and cancrinite at low NaNO3 concentrations. However, at high NaNO3 concentrations, NaOH above 2 M has no obvious effect on the phase transformation of the main zeolite of chabazite and cancrinite. In the adsorption and desorption experiment of Cs+ on the chabazite/garronite-rich geopolymer, it was found that the adsorption of Cs+ in the low initial concentration range is more suitable for the Freundlich equation, while the Langmuir equation fits in the adsorption process at the high initial concentration range. Moreover, the desorption kinetics of Cs+ are in good agreement with the pseudo-second-order rate equation. Thus, the adsorption of Cs+ on chabazite/garronite-rich geopolymers is controlled by both physical and chemical reactions, while desorption is a chemical process.

Keywords

• low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes
• adsorption/desorption performances
• zeolite-rich geopolymer
• radioactive nuclide Cs⁺
• NaNO₃ concentration