Distribution and leaching characteristics of La element in oxyapatite glass–ceramic derived from uranium tailings
摘要
Uranium tailings were employed as a precursor for glass–ceramic immobilization of La3+. The effects of tailings content and sintering temperature on phase evolution and durability were investigated. The results indicated that the U20 (20 wt.% uranium tailing addition) samples sintered at 1300 °C were an ideal waste form to immobilize La3+, with 69.95 wt.% of La3+ incorporated in the NaLa9(SiO4)6O2 crystalline phase, and an excellent chemical durability (LRLa = 1.89 × 10–5 g m−2 d−1 after 28 days leaching period). This study demonstrated that uranium tailings-based glass–ceramics had a good structural and chemical durability, offering a potential host matrix for radioactive waste and mining byproducts.