Investigating hollandite-perovskite composite ceramics as a potential waste form for immobilization of radioactive cesium and strontium

Ceramic matrix containing zirconolite, hollandite, and perovskite phases is proposed as a potential host for HLW immobilization. Hollandite phase principally immobilizes Cs, while perovskite phase mainly immobilizes Sr. In this study, hollandite-perovskite composite ceramics are considered as a specialized waste form for immobilizing the separated Cs and Sr from HLW streams and synthesized by a solid-state reaction method at 1300 degrees C for 5 h. The phase compositions of the synthesized composites were characterized by XRD and BSE. The XRD results indicated that the as-prepared ceramics are composed of tetragonal hollandite Ba0.8Cs0.4Al2Ti6O16, cubic perovskite SrTiO3, alongside a lesser amount of TiO2. The BSE-EDX results confirm that Cs partitions into the hollandite matrix, while Sr incorporates into perovskite host with homogenous distribution. In addition, aqueous durability testing was carried out using the MCC-1 static leach test method. The normalized release rates of Cs and Sr in HP-3 sample (i.e., 75 wt% Ba0.8Cs0.4Al2Ti6O16 + 25 wt% SrTiO3) were < 10(-2) g center dot m(-2)center dot d(-1) after 42 days, exhibiting excellent chemical durability. These results indicate that the hollandite-perovskite ceramic matrix could be considered as a customized host matrix for immobilization of the separated Cs and Sr from HLW streams.

Automated summary

The study proposes the use of a hollandite-perovskite ceramic matrix as a potential host for immobilization of separated Cs and Sr from high-level waste streams, demonstrating excellent chemical durability in experimental testing. The synthesized composite ceramics have shown effective immobilization of Cs and Sr elements, indicating their potential as a customized host matrix for HLW immobilization.