Incorporation of iodine into apatite structure: a crystal chemistry approach using Artificial Neural Network
Materials with apatite crystal structure provide a great potential for incorporating the long-lived radioactive iodine isotope (129I) in the form of iodide (I-) from nuclear waste streams. Because of its durability and potentially high iodine content, the apatite waste form can reduce iodine release rate and minimize the waste volume. Crystal structure and composition of apatite was investigated for iodide incorporation into the channel of the structure using Artificial Neural Network. A total of 86 experimentally determined apatite crystal structures of different compositions were compiled from literature, and 46 of them were used to train the networks and 42 were used to test the performance of the trained networks. The results show that the performances of the networks are satisfactory for predictions of unit cell parameters a and c and channel size of the structure. The trained and tested networks were then used to predict unknown compositions of apatite that incorporates iodide. With a crystal chemistry consideration, chemical compositions that lead to matching the size of the structural channel to the size of iodide were then predicted to be able to incorporate iodide in the structural channel. The calculations suggest that combinations of A site cations of Ag+, K+, Sr2+, Pb2+, Ba2+, and Cs+, and X site cations, mostly formed tetrahedron, of Mn5+, As5+, Cr5+, V5+, Mo5+, Si4+, Ge4+, and Re7+ are possible apatite compositions that are able to incorporate iodide. The charge balance of different apatite compositions can be achieved by multiple substitutions at a single site or coupled substitutions at both A and X sites. The results give important clues for designing experiments to synthesize new apatite compositions and also provide a fundamental understanding how iodide is incorporated in the apatite structure. This understanding can provide important insights for apatite waste forms design by optimizing the chemical composition and synthesis procedure.
Cold sintering and durability of iodate-substituted calcium hydroxyapatite (IO-HAp) for the immobilization of radioiodine
Abstract Cold sintering of iodine-hosted calcium hydroxyapatite was investigated for the development of a durable matrix for radioiodine immobilization. Single-phase, nano-crystalline, iodate-substituted calcium hydroxyapatite (IO-HAp) was synthesized by a wet precipitation method and sintering of the dried IO-HAp powder containing ∼7 wt% of substituted iodine was carried out at 200 °C under a uniaxial pressure of 500 MPa. It was demonstrated that a sintered relative density of 96.8% can be achieved without affecting the iodate nature of the substituted iodine. A product consistency test of the sintered samples was also carried out under a standard condition. The normalized leaching rates of Ca, P and I after seven days were 6.9 (±0.5) × 10−7, 2.6 (±0.2) × 10−7 and 2.4 (±0.4) × 10−5 g/m2/d, respectively, providing evidence of the durability of the cold sintered matrix and promise of using the cold sintering process for the conditioning of volatile element-bearing radioactive waste into solid waste forms.
An Ultrasensitive Analytical Method Based on Chemiluminescence Sensing Electrochemical Parallel Catalytic Reaction Event
An ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) method on the combination of electrochemical parallel catalytic reaction and chemiluminesence signal sensing was proposed for improving ECL analytical characteristics using vanadate(V) as a representative. Vanadate(V) could be electrochemically reduced to generate vanadate(II) which could be chemically oxidized by potassium periodate to regenerate vanadate(V) and give parallel catalytic wave effect. Then, the reduced product of potassium periodate could react with butyl-rhodamine B to emit a sensitive chemiluminescence signal. The chemiluminescence intensity was correlative with vanadate(V) concentration. The investigation on the electrochemical reaction rate constant (k0) confirmed that the speed of electrochemical reaction was faster than that of the subsequent chemiluminescence reaction. The possibility of the combination of electrochemical parallel catalytic reaction with chemiluminescence signal sensing was proved. The similar ECL behaviors could be observed at zirconia nanowires-Nafion modified electrode. Because of the separation and enrichment effect of the modified electrode on vanadate(V), the selectivity and sensitivity was further improved greatly. Based on these findings, a new concept on the combination of electrochemical parallel catalytic reaction and chemiluminesence signal sensing was proposed and an ultrasensitive ECL method for the determination of vanadate(V) was developed at zirconia nanowires-Nafion modified electrode. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the ECL intensity was linear with the concentration of vanadate(V) in the range of 2.0×10−12 mol/L–2.0×10−10 mol/L. The detection limit was 8.0×10−13 mol/L, which was more than 6 orders of magnitude lower than that observed by electrochemical current transduction for electrochemical parallel catalytic reaction at zirconia nanowires-Nafion modified electrode.