A mechanistic view on curium(III) sorption on natural K-feldspar surfaces

For a reliable safety assessment for future deep underground repositories for highly active nu-clear waste a comprehensive understanding of the radionuclide retention by the surrounding host rock is required. Several parameters such as mineral heterogeneity and surface roughness, as well as pore water chemistry, influence radionuclide retention. Although many studies have been performed to investigate individual parameters, their interplay with each other is not yet well understood.

In our study, we focus on the sorption of trivalent curium on K-feldspar, a representative for the large alkali feldspar fractions contained in most crystalline rocks. We use cleaved macroscopic K-feldspar crystals and perform experiments at different pH values (5.5 and 6.9) to determine its impact on surface sorption with varying surface roughness. Furthermore, we investigate a K-feldspar mineral grain, which is part of a complex heterogeneous crystalline rock, obtained from the Grimsel Test Site.

To assess the sorption dependencies, we apply a correlative spectromicroscopy approach. In de-tail, the topography and surface roughness of the K-feldspar crystals as well as the mineral thin section is determined by vertical scanning interferometry. In addition, Raman microscopy deliv-ers information about the thin section’s surface mineralogy. The quantitative amount of sorbed Cm(III) is obtained by calibrated autoradiography and partially µTRLFS (micro-focus time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy), which is also the only method capable of measuring Cm(III) surface speciation on the molecular level via analysis of luminescence spec-tra and lifetimes.

Our results indicate that rougher K-feldspar surfaces exhibit increased Cm(III) uptake and stronger surface complexation. Similarly, the increase in pH leads to higher surface loading and stronger Cm(III) binding to the surface. Results obtained on the thin section reveal, that within a heterogeneous mineralogical system, sorption is affected by dissolution of neighboring minerals and competitive sorption between different mineral phases, such as mica and feldspar. The ob-tained findings express a need for investigating relevant processes on multiple scales of dimen-sion and complexity to better understand radionuclide retention by potential repository host rocks.

The authors acknowledge funding provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (iCross project 02NUK053B), the Helmholtz Association (iCross project SO-093 and CROSSING project PIE-0007), as well as by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (SMILE project 02E11668B). We thank F. Bok R. Moeckel, S. Beutner and S. Schöne.