Immobilization of gadolinium in iron borophosphate glasses and iron borophosphate based glass-ceramics: Implications for the immobilization of plutonium(III)

摘要

Immobilization of gadolinium (Gd), a nonradioactive surrogate for Pu3+, in iron borophosphate glasses/glass-ceramics (IBP glasses/glass-ceramics) has been investigated. The IBP glass containing 4 mol% Gd2O3 is homogeneously amorphous. At higher Gd2O3 concentrations, additional Gd is retained in the glasses as crystalline inclusions of monazite GdPO4 crystalline phase detected with X-ray diffraction. Moreover, Gd2O3 addition increases the T-g of the IBP glasses in glass formation range, which is consistent with the structural modification of the glasses. The structure of the Gd2O3-loaded IBP glasses/glass-ceramics is mainly based on pyrophosphate units. The chemical durability of Gd2O3-loaded IBP glasses/glass-ceramics is comparable to widely used borosilicate glass waste forms and the existence of monazite GdPO4 crystalline phase does not degrade the aqueous chemical durability of the IBP glasses/glass-ceramics. The Gd-loading results imply that the solubility should not be a limiting factor in processing nuclide Pu3+ if the formed crystalline phase(s) have high chemical durability. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.