Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

SORPTION OF CESIUM BY SOILS AND ITS DISPLACEMENT BY SALT SOLUTIONS

Journal Article · · Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc.
OSTI ID:4628706

Cesium was sorbed by montmorillonite, illite, and kaolinite in quantities corresponding to exchange saturation and was displaced readily on leaching with 1N KCl or CaCl/sub 2/. Vermiculite and heated (600 deg C, 12 hr) K- montmorillonite bound Cs tightly against displacement by CaCl/sub 2/ and AlCl/sub 3/, but not by KCl or NH/sub 4/Cl. Prolonged leaching with 1N KCl removed 97.5% of the Cs sorbed by heated Kmontmorillonite, while lN CaCl/sub 2/ eventually displaced 88%. Potassium and Rb sorbed on vermiculite were displaced more rapidly by Ca or Mg than by monovalent ions, but this was not the case with hented K-montmorillonite. The exchange-displacement behavior of Cs on vermiculite and heated K-montmorillonite suggests that the ion is unique in that its sorption in interlayer spaces leads to interplanar distances that admit K and NH/sub 4/ ions but greatly restrict the entry of Ca. Cesium, then, is not expected to follow the fixation-release rules that have been developed for K and NH/sub 4/. Heated montmorillonite samples leached with mixtures of CsCl and other salts sorbed more Cs when the complementary ion was Ca or Al than when it was K or NH/sub 4/. Differences were especially pronounced at low equivalent fractions of Cs in the leaching solution, showing a larger preference by exchange sites for Cs over divalent than over monovalent ions. Apparent specific sorption of Cs against exchange with CaCl/sub 2/ occurred at quite large Cs saturations. (auth)

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Riverside
NSA Number:
NSA-17-039072
OSTI ID:
4628706
Journal Information:
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc., Journal Name: Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. Vol. Vol: 27
Country of Publication:
Country unknown/Code not available
Language:
English