Changes in Structure of Borosilicate Glass in Leaching Condition

Abstract

Abstract: Borosilicate glass is one of the most possible candidates for the immobilization of high-level radioactive nuclear waste and leaching is the main way that radionuclides inside the vitrification (borosilicate glass form) enter the biosphere. The leaching properties of borosilicate glass by deionized water were investigated using the MCC-1 static leaching method at 90 ℃ for 28 d. With the static leaching method developed by American Nuclear Waste Material Characterization Center, the leaching behavior and the corresponding micro-structures of the borosilicate glass were investigated, adopting a variety of spectral characterization methods including inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy (Raman), and the grazing incident X-ray diffraction (GIXRD). All of the data from FTIR, Raman and GIXRD indicate that, with corrosion in water, the proportion of Si-O-Si structures in glass increases while the B-related structures disappear, and the micro-structures in the layer near the surface are similar to fused silica. After being immersed for 7 d, a corrosion layer and cracks between the corrosion layer and glass base are observed in the surface of samples, which is identified by scanning electron microscope. The formation of the cracks led to a increase in surface area of glass samples. That finally led to an abnormal increase in the leaching rates of Na and Si elements.

Key words: borosilicate glass, leaching behavior, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, cross-section morphology

CLC Number:

TQ171

ZHANG Xiaoyang, MAO Jiangjiang, CHEN Liting, MAO Yanan, WANG Tiantian, SUN Mengli, PENG Haibo, WANG Tieshan. Changes in Structure of Borosilicate Glass in Leaching Condition[J]. BULLETIN OF THE CHINESE CERAMIC SOCIETY, 2021, 40(6): 2075-2082.

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