PNNL

Abstract

A batch and cryogenic laser-induced time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy investigation of U(VI) adsorbed on quartz-chlorite mixtures with variable mass ratios have been performed under field-relevant uranium concentrations (5x10-7 M and 5x10-6 M) in pH 8.1 synthetic groundwater. The U(VI) adsorption Kd values steadily increased as the mass fraction of chlorite increased, indicating preferential sorption to chlorite. For all mineral mixtures, U(VI) adsorption Kd values were lower than that calculated from the assumption of component additivity; The largest deviation occurred when the mass fractions of the two minerals were equal. U(VI) adsorbed on quartz and chlorite displayed characteristic individual fluorescence spectra that were not affected by mineral mixing. The spectra of U(VI) adsorbed within the mixtures could be simulated by one surface U(VI) species on quartz and two on chlorite. The fluorescence intensity decreased in a nonlinear manner as the adsorbed U(VI) concentration increased with increasing chlorite mass fraction – likely due to ill-defined fluorescence quenching by both structural Fe/Cr in chlorite, and trace amounts of solubilized and re-precipitated Fe/Cr in the aqueous phase. However, the fractional spectral intensities of U(VI) adsorbed on quartz and chlorite followed the same trend of fractional adsorbed U(VI) concentration in each mineral phase; approximate linear correlations in the quartz:chlorite mass ratio ranges of 0.0 - 0.2 and 0.2 - 1.0, offering a method to estimate of U(VI) concentration distribution between the mineral components.