Influence of the ionic strength and solid/solution ratio on Ca(II)-for-Na+ exchange on montmorillonite. Part 2: Understanding the effect of the m/V ratio. Implications for pore water composition and element transport in natural media

Competitive ion-exchange reactions of Pb(II) (Pb2+/PbCl+) and Ra(II) (Ra2+) on smectites: Experiments, modeling, and implication for 226Ra(II)/210Pb(II) disequilibrium in the environment

In this study, new experimental data for the adsorption of lead onto a swelling clay mineral with a tetrahedral charge (beidellite) at the ultratrace level (<10^-10 M) are presented. The data were interpreted using an ion-exchange multisite model that considers the sorption of major cations (including H⁺), which always compete with trace elements for sorption onto mineral surfaces in natural environments. The ability of the proposed model to predict experimental K_d values under various conditions of ionic strength (fixed by NaCl solutions) and aqueous cation compositions (including Pb²⁺ and PbCl⁺) was tested. The proposed model was applied to experimental data previously published for other types of swelling clay minerals, and the results were compared with the results obtained using previously published models. The preferential adsorption of chloride ion pairs, as well as the effect of the swelling clay crystal chemistry on lead adsorption, were assessed. Finally, the selective adsorption behavior of ²²⁶Ra compared to ²¹⁰Pb was demonstrated, which has implications for the study of many environmental processes using isotope partitioning.

The Role of Barite in the Post-Mining Stabilization of Radium-226: A Modeling Contribution for Sequential Extractions

Barite is ubiquitous and known to incorporate 226Ra through the formation of a solid-solution. In U mining mill tailings, barite is one of the dominant sulfate-binding minerals. In such environments, sequential extractions are generally used to identify the U- and 226Ra-binding phases and their associated reactivity. To better decipher the main processes governing the behavior of 226Ra during such sequential extractions, a geochemical model was developed with PHREEQC mimicking the sequential extraction of U and 226Ra from Bois-Noirs Limouzat U mine tailings, France. The model results were compared with a dataset produced by an experimental sequential extraction from the same mine tailings and including data on the solids and selective extraction results with the major elements, U and 226Ra. The simulations reproduced the results of the experimental chemical extractions accurately, with iron oxyhydroxides being the major U binding phase. However, the modeling indicated rather that barite would be the main 226Ra binding phase, instead of the iron oxyhydroxides identified by the experimental extractions. This is consistent with the 226Ra concentration measured in pore water, but in disagreement with the direct interpretation of the sequential extractions. The direct interpretation disregarded the role of barite in the geochemical behavior of 226Ra because barite was not specifically targeted by any of the extraction steps. However, the modeling showed that the dissolution of 226Ra-binding barite by reactants would lead to a 226Ra redistribution among the clay minerals, resulting in a skew in the experimental results. Similar results were achieved by referring simply to the bulk mineralogy of the tailings. This study highlights the importance of considering the mineralogy, mineral reactivity and retention capacity for more realistic interpretation of sequential extractions. Moreover, this paper provides new perspectives on the long-term consequences of these mill tailings in which barite controls the geochemical behavior of the 226Ra.

Crystal structure control of aluminized clay minerals on the mobility of caesium in contaminated soil environments

Radioactive caesium pollution resulting from Fukushima Dai-ichi and Chernobyl nuclear plant accidents involves strong interactions between Cs⁺ and clays, especially vermiculite-type minerals. In acidic soil environments, such as in Fukushima area, vermiculite is subjected to weathering processes, resulting in aluminization. The crystal structure of aluminized clays and its implications for Cs⁺ mobility in soils remain poorly understood due to the mixture of these minerals with other clays and organic matter. We performed acidic weathering of a vermiculite to mimic the aluminization process in soils. Combination of structure analysis and Cs⁺ extractability measurements show that the increase of aluminization is accompanied by an increase in Cs⁺ mobility. Crystal structure model for aluminized vermiculite is based on the interstratification of unaltered vermiculite layers and aluminized layers within the same particle. Cs⁺ in vermiculite layers is poorly mobile, while the extractability of Cs⁺ is greatly enhanced in aluminized layers. The overall reactivity of the weathered clay (cation exchange capacity, Cs⁺ mobility) is then governed by the relative abundance of the two types of layers. The proposed layer model for aluminized vermiculite with two coexisting populations of caesium is of prime importance for predicting the fate of caesium in contaminated soil environments.

Nature of the sites involved in the process of cesium desorption from vermiculite

Three particle size fractions of sodium-saturated vermiculite (10-20, 1-2 and 0.1-0.2 μm), differing only in their ratios of external-to-total sorption sites, were used to probe the nature of the sites involved in desorption of cesium ions. The sorption was investigated for initial aqueous concentrations of cesium ranging from 5.6×10(-4) to 1.3×10(-2) mol/L, and the cesium desorption was probed by exchange with ammonium ions. The results showed that (1) the amounts of desorbed cesium were strongly dependent on the particle size for a given initial aqueous cesium concentration and (2) the amounts of desorbed cations (Na(+) and Cs(+)) strongly decreased with increasing initial cesium aqueous concentration, irrespective of the particle size investigated. Quantitative analysis of these results suggested that cesium ions sorbed on external (edge+basal) sorption sites can be desorbed by ammonium ions. As a contrast, most of cesium ions sorbed on interlayer sites remain fixed due to the collapse of the structure under aqueous conditions. This study provides important information, such as the nature of the sites involved in the exchange process, when the thermodynamic formalism is considered to describe the ion-exchange process involving cesium and high-charge swelling clay minerals in polluted soil environments.

Development and evaluation of a new sorption model for organic cations in soil: contributions from organic matter and clay minerals

This study evaluates a newly proposed cation-exchange model that defines the sorption of organic cations to soil as a summed contribution of sorption to organic matter (OM) and sorption to phyllosilicate clay minerals. Sorption to OM is normalized to the fraction organic carbon (fOC), and sorption to clay is normalized to the estimated cation-exchange capacity attributed to clay minerals (CECCLAY). Sorption affinity is specified to a fixed medium composition, with correction factors for other electrolyte concentrations. The model applies measured sorption coefficients to one reference OM material and one clay mineral. If measured values are absent, then empirical relationships are available on the basis of molecular volume and amine type in combination with corrective increments for specific polar moieties. The model is tested using new sorption data generated at pH 6 for two Eurosoils, one enriched in clay and the other, OM, using 29 strong bases (pKa > 8). Using experimental data on reference materials for all tested compounds, model predictions for the two soils differed on average by only -0.1 ± 0.4 log units from measured sorption affinities. Within the chemical applicability domain, the model can also be applied successfully to various reported soil sorption data for organic cations. Particularly for clayish soils, the model shows that sorption of organic cations to clay minerals accounts for more than 90% of the overall affinity.

Driving force for the hydration of the swelling clays: case of montmorillonites saturated with alkaline-earth cations

Important structural modifications occur in swelling clays upon water adsorption. The multi-scale evolution of the swelling clay structure is usually evidenced by various experimental techniques. However, the driving force behind such phenomena is still not thoroughly understood. It appears strongly dependent on the nature of the interlayer cation. In the case of montmorillonites saturated with alkaline cations, it was inferred that the compensating cation or the layer surface could control the hydration process and thus the opening of the interlayer space, depending on the nature of the interlayer cation. In the present study, emphasis is put on the impact of divalent alkaline-earth cations compensating the layer charge in montmorillonites. Since no experimental technique offers the possibility of directly determining the hydration contributions related to interlayer cations and layer surfaces, an approach based on the combination of electrostatic calculations and immersion data is developed here, as already validated in the case of montmorillonites saturated by alkaline cations. This methodology allows to estimate the hydration energy for divalent interlayer cations and therefore to shed a new light on the driving force for hydration process occurring in montmorillonites saturated with alkaline-earth cations. Firstly, the surface energy values obtained from the electrostatic calculations based on the Electronegativity Equalization Method vary from 450 mJ m(-2) for Mg-montmorillonite to 1100 mJ m(-2) for Ba-montmorillonite. Secondly, considering both the hydration energy for cations and layer surfaces, the driving force for the hydration of alkaline-earth saturated montmorillonites can be attributed to the interlayer cation in the case of Mg-, Ca-, Sr-montmorillonites and to the interlayer surface in the case of Ba-montmorillonites. These results explain the differences in behaviour upon water adsorption as a function of the nature of the interlayer cation, thereby allowing the macroscopic swelling trends to be better understood. The knowledge of hydration processes occurring in homoionic montmorillonites saturated with both the alkaline and the alkaline-earth cations may be of great importance to explain the behaviour of natural clay samples where mixtures of the two types of interlayer cation are present and also provides valuable information on the cation exchange occurring in the swelling clays.