Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Surface layer formation on corroded nuclear waste glasses

1984; Elsevier BV; Volume: 67; Issue: 1-3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0022-3093(84)90153-4

1873-4812

B. C. Sales, C. W. White, G. M. Bègun, L. A. Boatner,

Building materials and conservation

The corrosion of a borosilicate nuclear waste glass is accompanied by the formation of an altered layer on the glass surface. This layer has a chemical composition that is radically different from that of the bulk glass and can be many microns thick. In this study, the combined techniques of Rutherford backscattering depth profile analysis, Raman scattering, quantitative solution analysis, and solution conductivity measurements have been used to investigate the elemental distribution, chemical stability, chemical composition, and protective ability of the altered surface layers formed on several simulated nuclear waste glasses that were corroded in aqueous media. The properties of altered glass surface layers formed by exposure to distilled H2O, acidic, basic, and brine solutions were investigated. Exposure to the different solutions resulted in significant variations in the characteristics of the corroded surface layer. In particular, the surface layers formed in one solution were frequently unstable when the glass was re-exposed to different corrosion conditions. Raman spectroscopy was employed in establishing that for glasses corroded in distilled H2O, strontium is present in the altered surface layer in the form of SrCO3.