Amorphous SiO2 ambigels as hosts for simulated PWR multicomponent nuclear waste

• Published in: Journal of non-crystalline solids Vol. 461; pp. 67 - 71
• Main Authors: Bay de S., Graciano, de Souza, Luciana V., Hotza, Dachamir, Rambo, Carlos R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.04.2017
• Subjects: Multicomponent nuclear waste immobilization; Simulated liquid nuclear waste; SiO2 ambigels; Simulated liquid nuclear waste; SiO2 ambigels; Multicomponent nuclear waste immobilization
• ISSN: 0022-3093; 1873-4812
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2017.01.046

In this work we report the synthesis of high specific surface area amorphous silica ambigels and their applications as hosts for immobilizing simulated pressurized water reactor multicomponent nuclear wastes. Three batches consisting of five ambigels each were subjected to different pre-sintering heat treatment and different immersion times in the waste as part of a factorial composite design of experiment. We have produced high specific surface area ambigels (>300m2/g), which after immersion in the simulated nuclear waste decreased its area in almost 70%, reaching over 46%, on average, waste loads. We also found that none of the two factors, temperature and immersion time, affected the waste load gain for the tested ranges. •Amorphous SiO2 ambigels with high specific surface area were produced.•The ambigels were used as hosts for simulated nuclear waste immobilization.•No significant effect of temperature and immersion time on mass gain was observed.