• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.469-477
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• 2021

Safe storage of spent nuclear fuel in deep underground repositories necessitates an understanding of the long-term alteration of metal canisters and buffer materials. A small-scale laboratory alteration test was performed on metal (Cu or Fe) chips embedded in compacted bentonite blocks placed in anaerobic water for 1 year. Lactate, sulfate, and bacteria were separately added to the water to promote biochemical reactions in the system. The bentonite blocks immersed in the water were dismantled after 1 year, showing that their alteration was insignificant. However, the Cu chip exhibited some microscopic etch pits on its surface, wherein a slight sulfur component was detected. Overall, the Fe chip was more corroded than the Cu chip under the same conditions. The secondary phase of the Fe chip was locally found as carbonate materials, such as siderite (FeCO₃) and calcite ((Ca, Fe)CO₃). These secondary products can imply that the local carbonate occurrence on the Fe chip may be initiated and developed by an evolution (alteration) of bentonite and a diffusive provision of biogenic CO₂ gas. These laboratory scale results suggest that the actual long-term alteration of metal canisters/bentonite blocks in the engineered barrier could be possible by microbial activities.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.235-243
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• 2006

In this study, an experimental study on the sorption properties of uranium(VI) onto a bentonite colloid generated from Gyeongju bentonite which is a potential buffer material in a high-level radioactive waste repository was performed as a function of the pH and the ionic strength. The bentonite colloid prepared by separating a colloidal fraction was mainly composed of montmorillonite. The concentration and the size fraction of the prepared bentonite colloid measured using a gravitational filtration method was about 5100 ppm and 200-450 nm in diameter, respectively. The amount of uranium removed by the sorption reaction bottle walls, by precipitation, and by ultrafiltration was analyzed by carrying out some blank tests. The removed amount of uranium was found not to be significant except the case of ultrafiltration at 0.001 M $NaClO_4$. The ultrafiltration was significant in the lower ionic strength of 0.001 M $NaClO_4$ due to the cationic sorption onto the ultrafilter by a surface charge reversion. The distribution coefficient $K_d$ (or pseudo-colloid formation constant) of uranium(VI) for the bentonite colloid was about $10^4{\sim}10^7mL/g$ depending upon pH and ionic strength of $NaClO_4$ and the $K_d$ was highest in the neutral pH around 6.5. It is noted that the sorption of uranium(VI) onto the bentonite colloid is closely related with aqueous species of uranium depending upon geochemical parameters such as pH, ionic strength, and carbonate concentration. As a consequence, the bentonite colloids generated from a bentonite buffer can mobilize the uranium(VI) as a colloidal form through geological media due to their high sorption capacity.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.28-36
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• 2015

Simultaneous mobility reduction of explosives and heavy metals in an operational range by monopotassium phosphate (MKP) and bentonite spreading technology was investigated. Potassium ion and phosphate ion in MKP act as explosives sorption enhancer and insoluble heavy metal phosphate formation, respectively, while bentonite acts as the explosives adsorbent. Then, the decrease in surface water concentration of the pollutants and resulting risk reduction for local residents of the operational range, by MKP/bentonite application was estimated. Under untreated scenario, the noncancer hazard index (HI) exceeded unity on February, July and August, mainly due to 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT); however, MKP/bentonite treatment was expected to lower the noncancer hazard index by decreasing the surface water concentration of explosives and heavy metals (especially TNT). For example, on July, estimated surface water concentration and HI of TNT were 0.01 mg/L and 1.1, respectively, meanwhile the sorption coefficient of TNT was 3.9 mg¹⁻ⁿkg⁻¹Lⁿ. However, by MKP/bentonite treatment, the TNT sorption coefficient increased to 113.8 mg¹⁻ⁿkg⁻¹Lⁿ and the surface water concentration and HI decreased to about 0.002 mg/L and 0.2, respectively. Based on the result, it can be concluded that MKP/bentonite spreading is a benign technology that can mitigate the risk posed by the pollutants migration from operational ranges.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.159-166
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• 1991

Seven oxyfluorfen formulations were tested for control of 8 weed species and rice injury under four different water depths with various ages of rice seedlings. Among formulations tested, rice injury was slight by formulations of Elvan, Coal Slag, Chitosan and Bentonite B under 0 cm or shallow water depths, and by those of Elvan and Coal Slag under deep water conditions. Weed control was high by Bentonite A and B, and Chitosan, and was low by Elvan. Coal Slag and Sand coated oxyfluorfen, if the target weeds of oxyfluorfen are annual species, further development of Elvan, coal slag, chitosan and Bentonite A would be controlled to increase control efficacy or to decrease rice injury.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.96-103
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• 2020

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of five different combinations including: sand 70%, bentonite 30% (S₇₀B₃₀)- sand 80%, bentonite 20% (S₈₀B₂₀)- sand 80%, organophilic 20% (S₈₀M₂₀)- sand 60%, bentonite 20%, organophilic 20% (S₆₀B₃₀M₂₀) and sand 75% - bentonite 15% - organophilic 10% (S₇₅B₁₅M₁₀) on landfill linear structure in order to decrease phenol leaching. Hydraulic conductivity and adsorption behavior of the samples were investigated. The results demonstrated that the lowest hydraulic conductivity coefficient ($1.16{\times}10^{-11}{\frac{m}{s}}$) was obtained for S₇₀B₃₀. Furthermore, adding more than 20% of bentonite had no significant effect on reducing permeability. Moreover, Freundlich isotherm was introduced as the best model explaining adsorption behaviour due to its highest determination coefficient (0.945). The best samples for adsorption capacity of phenol and for both permeability and adsorption are S₈₀M₂₀ and S₆₀B₃₀M₂₀, respectively. Although the presence of bentonite was effective in reducing hydraulic conductivity, organic clay had no considerable impact on reducing permeability. Though, it's an exceptional role in adsorbing organic contaminants including phenol cannot be ignored. To meet all regulatory constraints, the optimal compound is made up of 10.2% of bentonite and 2.8% of organophilic clays with a minimized cost of 13.64 ($/ton).

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.293-299
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• 2014

The bentonite, a buffer material, is essential for the deep geological disposal of HLW (high-level radioactive waste), and it is important to know its characteristic long-term evolution in the underground environment. With an assumption that the concentration of aqueous copper ions will increase if copper-coated materials on a metal canister are corroded, we examined some characteristic ion-exchanges and cation release phenomena occurring in the bentonite clay (montmorillonite) interacted with aqueous Cu cations. During the interaction between dissolved copper and bentonite, Na rather than Ca cations in the expandable clay were preferentially replaced by Cu ions in the experiment. In addition, the Cu-exchanged montmorillonite was characterized by an asymmetric X-ray diffracted pattern with relatively collapsed interlayers compared to the raw sample. These results indicate that the gradual change of the original bentonite property may occur in a underground disposal condition. We are going to further study the characteristic chemical and mineralogical changes of the bentonite buffer to be used for the disposal site by conducting additional experiments.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.199-206
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• 2011

The influence of water salinity on the hydraulic conductivities of compacted bentonites with several dry densities were studied. The hydraulic conductivity increases with increasing salinity only when the dry density of bentonite is relatively low. The degree of increase becomes more remarkable at a lower dry density of bentonite. For bentonite with the density of 1.0 $Mg/m^3$ and 1.2 $Mg/m^3$, the hydraulic conductivity of the 0.4 M NaCl solution increases up to about 7 times and 3 times, respectively higher than that of freshwater. However, for the bentonite with a dry density higher than 1.4 $Mg/m^3$, the salinity has an insignificant effect on the hydraulic conductivity, and the hydraulic conductivity is nearly constant within the salinity range of 0.04 to 0.4 M NaCl. The pre-saturation of the bentonite specimen with freshwater has no significant influence on the hydraulic conductivity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.03a
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• pp.805-812
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• 2009

Permeation water resulting in the reclaimed land of waste can possibly cause the second pollution, such as the underground water and environmental pollution. Accordingly, Liner layer has been installed in the reclaimed land of waste to block and purify permeation water and prevent this second pollution. The material used as Liner layer is the one for water resistance and that of less than permeability coefficient $1{\times}10^{-7}cm/sec$ is widely used. As it is very difficult to secure in bulk this natural clay with low permeability around the field, the suitable way to secure low permeable material is that we use blend with good watertighness by mixing it with natural soil which is spread in the site. While this mixed soil which can resist water is commonly used in the site, bentonite mixed soil which is widely used as Liner layer in the reclaimed land of waste is recognized in Liner and durability. In this study, the engineering characteristics of soil-bentonite mixed liner are investigated using the laboratory hydraulic conductivity and uni-axial strength tests. The soil used for the liner is the clay soil located near the site. Mixing ratio of the bentonite which satisfies the requirement of hydraulic conductivity is determined and the optimum mixing ratio of bentonite is recommended for the landfill. After the mixed liner is constructed using the optimum mixing ratio of bentonite, the block samples of the constructed liner are obtained and the strength tests were performed. The hydraulic and strength properties of the liner for construction of the waste landfill were both satisfactory.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.17-26
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• 2014

In this study, the adsorption efficiency of mixed heavy metals from an aqueous solution was examined using bentonite. The physical and chemical properties of bentonite was analyzed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Further, heavy metal adsorption was characterized using Freundlich and Langmuir equations. Equilibrium adsorption data were fitted well to the Langmuir model for bentonite. The adsorption uptake of heavy metals was high and followed the order $Pb^{2+}$ > $Cu^{2+}$ > $Cd^{2+}$ > $$Zn^{2+}{\sim_=}Ni^{2+}$$. The results also showed that adsorption uptake slightly increased as increasing pH from 6 to 10. The bentonite surface was observed viay SEM and FT-IR; Si-O and Si-O-Al were found to be the main functional groups by FT-IR analysis. From these results, the adsorption mechanisms of heavy metal were not only surface adsorption and ion exchange, but also surface precipitation. Thus, bentonite could be a useful adsorbent for treating heavy metal in aqueous solution.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.167-173
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• 2010

In this study, we used activated carbon (AC) and titanium oxysulfate as a titanium precursor to prepare carbon/titania composites. We then mixed it with bentonite in different ratios to make a carbon/titania/bentonite monolith for use in architecture bricks by using Phenolic rosin (PR) as a bonding agent. The physicochemical properties of the prepared composites were analyzed by BET surface area, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), self-cleaning effect and bactericidal tests. The BET surface areas increased as the ratio of carbon/titania composites increased. The SEM microscopy showed that the $TiO_2$ and bentonite were coated on the surface of the AC. The XRD patterns showed a mixture structure of anatase and rutile of $TiO_2$ with a clear $SiO_2$ structure. The EDX spectra of the carbon/titania/bentonite monolith confirmed the presence of various elements, namely C, O, Ti and Si, as well as other, impure elements. Moreover, to determine the self-cleaning effect of the carbon/titania/bentonite monolith, we used methylene blue (MB, $C_{16}H_{18}N_3S{\cdot}Cl{\cdot}3H_2O$) in an aqueous solution under the irradiation of visible light. Accordingly, all of the samples had excellent degradation of the MB solution. Furthermore, it was observed that the composites with sunlight irradiation had a greater effect on E. coli than any other experimental conditions.