1. Introduction

The federal government of Canada approved Adaptive Phased Management (APM) as the long-term management plan for used nuclear fuel in Canada in 2007 [1]. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is responsible for implementing the APM. Under the APM, used nuclear fuel will be placed within a deep geological repository (DGR) which is constructed in a suitable host rock formation. One of the candidate host rocks for a DGR in Canada is sedimentary rocks [1].

Brine solutions of Na–Ca–Cl type with a total dissolved solids (TDS) concentration up to 350 g·L⁻¹ have been observed in some of the sedimentary rocks in Southern Ontario (Michigan Basin) in Canada [1]. Sorption of radionuclides in engineered and natural barriers is an essential mechanism to retard their subsurface migration from the repository to the biosphere [2-6]. Hence, it is critical to investigate the sorption behavior of radionuclides on engineered barrier materials as well as natural barrier rocks. MX-80 is bentonite clay from the Clay Spur bed, Wyoming, USA, consisting of about 80wt% Na-rich montmorillonite and the candidate buffer material for the DGR project in Canada.

Plutonium(III) is one of the radionuclides of interest in the safety assessment of the DGR. Since the sorption behavior of Eu(III) is considered to be similar to that of trivalent actinides such as Pu(III), Am(III) and Cm(III), Eu is used as a chemical analogue for these trivalent actinides including Pu(III) [7].

There are many previous studies on the sorption of Eu on bentonite/montmorillonite using batch experiment, sorption modelling, laser spectroscopy and EXAFS (Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure) [3,8-32]. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is only one research project that systematically studied the sorption of Eu on bentonite/ montmorillonite in a wide range of pH and ionic strength [8]. Others investigated the sorption of Eu under relatively low ionic strength conditions or over a relatively small range of pH. Schnurr et al. [8] investigated sorption of Eu on Na-SWy-2 montmorillonite in NaCl solutions at 0.09, 0.92 and 3.90 molal (m) by batch experiment and using a two-site protolysis nonelectrostatic surface complexation and cation exchange sorption model (2SPNE SC/CE). They also applied time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy to study the Cm sorption at 0.1, 1.02 and 4.37 m. They found that (i) the sorption of Eu increased as pH_m increased for pH_m < 9, (ii) the sorption by cation exchange was suppressed with ionic strength at pH_m < 6, and (iii) the ionic strength dependence of Eu sorption at 6 < pH_m < 8–9 was small. The model prediction by 2SPNE SC/CE agreed well with the experimental data for pH_m < 9.

Due to the highly saline groundwater conditions in the Canadian sedimentary rocks, the sorption behavior of Eu on MX-80 in highly saline Na–Ca–Cl solutions has to be elucidated. In the presence of Ca ion, the sorption of Eu may compete with that of Ca²⁺. In this study, Eu sorption on MX-80 in Na–Ca–Cl solutions (pH_m = 3–10, ionic strength (I) = 0.1–6 m) was investigated by batch experiment and 2SPNE SC/CE model.

2. Experimental

2.1 Materials

All chemicals used in this work were reagent grade and purchased from Fisher Scientific. Deionized water prepared with a Milli-Q Direct 8 was used. The MX-80 bentonite sample was provided by the American Colloid Company and was used as received. The specific surface area of MX- 80 is 26.2 m²·g⁻¹ [33]. Other information including the mineralogy of this material is described elsewhere [33]. A Glove Box (GB) was filled with N₂ gas (> 99.999%) to exclude CO₂ and O₂. The concentration of O₂ in the running N₂ gas was confirmed to be less than 2 ppm by an oxygen sensor (Inert Technology).

A standard solution of Eu was purchased from Agilent Technologies (1,000 μg·ml⁻¹ in 5% HNO₃). This standard solution was diluted, and the Eu stock solution was prepared (Eu concentration: 1 × 10⁻⁵ m).

The Na/Ca ratio in molal concentration is 2.7 in the NWMO reference groundwater which represents the saline groundwater conditions at the repository depth in the Canadian sedimentary rocks (SR-270-PW, Na–Ca–Cl type, TDS = 275 g·L⁻¹) [2]. Therefore, Na–Ca–Cl solutions (Na/Ca = 2.7) with I = 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 6 m were prepared with NaCl and CaCl₂‧2H₂O compounds. Since Eu(III) is dominant under both the oxidizing and reducing conditions, it is not necessary to adjust the Eh of the solution. However, in this study, to simulate the deep geological conditions, reducing conditions were established for the sorption measurements. To achieve the low Eh values such as −200 mV versus SHE (standard hydrogen electrode), a small volume of hydrazine was added.

The pH values measured by the pH meter (pH_measure) are operational values [34]. How to convert the pH_measure to the molar H⁺ concentrations (pH_c = −log c_H+) or the molal H⁺ concentration (pH_m = −log m_H+) were described elsewhere. [35-37]. In this study, the pH_m in solutions was determined by acid-base titration (Metrohm Ti-Touch 916) according to the procedure described elsewhere [37]. Furthermore, we measured the redox potentials in the solutions and converted them into Eh versus SHE. The Eh measurement and calibration are also described elsewhere [37].

2.2 Sorption Experiment

All experiments were conducted at 25°C in triplicate in the GB. The experimental procedures were the same as those in our experiments on Np(IV) sorption in Na–Ca–Cl solutions [37]. In the present work, the sorption distribution coefficient (K_d) [mL·g⁻¹] was used to express the results of the sorption experiment:

EQ

where C₀ (m) is the initial concentration of Eu in the solution (1 × 10⁻⁷ m as explained later), C_e [m] the Eu concentration in the solution at sorption equilibrium, V [mL] the volume of the solution, and W [g] the mass of the MX-80.

The solid/liquid ratio for all sorption experiments was 10 mg/10 mL (10 mg of MX-80 was added into a 15 mL test tube). All sorption experiments were preceded by preequilibration, in which 10 mL Na–Ca–Cl solution with each ionic strength (0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 or 6 m) were mixed with 10 mg MX-80. The suspensions were kept in the GB for one week. The solution was separated by centrifuge (6 min at 3,000 rpm) and removed by pipette. Then, 10 mL of Na–Ca–Cl solution with the same ionic strength was added to the tube and the Eu stock solution was spiked. The initial concentration of Eu was 1 × 10⁻⁷ m. The solubility of Eu(OH)₃(am) in I = 1 m Na–Ca–Cl solution is estimated to be 3 × 10⁻⁶ m at pH = 8 by PHREEQC [38]. Schnurr et al. [8] used 2 × 10⁻⁷ m as the Eu initial concentration in their sorption measurements. Therefore, 1 × 10⁻⁷ m was considered lower than the Eu solubility and was used as Eu initial concentration throughout this work.

To study the Eu sorption kinetics, the Na–Ca–Cl solutions with I = 0.1 and 6 m were used. After the Eu stock solution was spiked, the pH_m was adjusted to around 6.5 and Eh was checked to be around −200 mV vs. SHE. During the experiment, pH_m and Eh were measured daily. When the pH_m value changed more than ± 0.3, the pH_m was adjusted. During the kinetics measurement, Eh values of all test tubes were stable. After 1, 2, 4, 7, 14 and 30 d, the solution was separated from the solid by centrifugation (30 min at 18,000 rpm) at 25°C. The pH_m and Eh of the solution were measured in the GB, and an aliquot was sampled from the solution of the test tube. The Eu concentration in the aliquot was measured with the ICP-MS (Agilent ICP-MS 8800). The detection limit of Eu was 2 × 10⁻¹² m.

The pH_m and ionic strength dependences of K_d were measured at pH_m range from 3 to 10 and I = 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 6 m. The pH_m of the solution was measured once a day in the GB. If the value of pH_m changed by more than ± 0.3 from the original one, it was re-adjusted to the original value of pH_m by addition of HCl or NaOH solution. Since the volume added was very small, the impact of change in the concentration of Eu on K_d evaluation was considered to be negligibly small. As explained in the following section, the sorption equilibrium under the experimental conditions of this study was reached within 21 d. Therefore, the sorption time was set 30 d throughout the pH_m and ionic strength dependence of K_d measurements. Other procedures were the same as those used in the kinetics measurements.

3. Results and Discussion

The results of the sorption kinetics of Eu for MX-80 in Na–Ca–Cl solutions at I = 0.1 and 6 m are shown in Fig. 1. It was illustrated that the sorption of Eu reached the equilibrium within 14 to 21 d at both ionic strengths. Based on the sorption kinetics results, the sorption reaction time for experiments on pH_m and ionic strength dependence of K_d was set at 30 d.

Fig. 1

Sorption kinetics of Eu on MX-80 in Na–Ca–Cl solutions at I = 0.1 and 6 m. Initial concentration of Eu was 1 × 10⁻⁷ m. pH_m was adjusted to 6.5 ± 0.3.

The pH_m and ionic strength dependences of sorption of Eu in Na–Ca–Cl solutions are shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 illustrates that the K_d values of Eu on MX-80 increased with pH_m from 3 to 6 at all ionic strengths, which is consistent with the result on Na-SWy-2 montmorillonite by Schnurr et al. [8]. However, while the K_d values reported by Schnurr et al. [8] continued to increase slightly with pH_m up to 10, the K_d values obtained for MX-80 in this study seemed to be independent of pH_m between 8 and 10 at I ≥ 0.5 m. The pH independence has been reported in cation sorption onto montmorillonite [39]. This is considered because sorption apparently seems to be saturated at pH_m = 8–10 where anionic species such as carbonate complexes and high-order hydrolyzed species are formed. At I = 0.1 m, the K_d value at pH_m = 10 slightly decreased, compared to that at pH_m = 8 and 9.

Fig. 2

pH_m and ionic strength dependence of K_d values of Eu in Na–Ca–Cl solutions. Initial concentration of Eu was 1 × 10⁻⁷ m.

In Figs. 1 and 2, a few measured data seemed to have relatively large experimental errors or uncertainties. However, the error / uncertainty of 0.5 log K_d is not unusual [8]. On the other hand, there was a possibility that the colloidal particles released from MX-80 might not be removed completely by the centrifugation, leading to the experimental errors / uncertainties of K_d values, but the discussion in this paper would not be affected by these errors / uncertainties.

It was found that the K_d values of Eu for MX-80 at I values between 0.5 m and 6 m were independent of I values at a full range of pH_m investigated in this study, whereas the K_d value at I = 0.1 m is greater than the K_d values at I ≥ 0.5 m except pH_m = 10. Schnurr et al. [8] reported that at pH_m < 8–9, the K_d value at I = 0.09 m is greater than that at I = 0.92 m and 3.90 m and that the I dependence at I = 0.92 m and 3.90 m was minor. Our results demonstrated that the same dependence on I was measured under the wider I conditions for MX-80. That the K_d values were not affected by I values was considered due to the formation of inner-sphere complexes. This is supported by the discussion and the TRLFS measurement by Schnurr et al. [8].

The K_d values obtained in this study were lower than those reported by Schnurr et al. measured in NaCl solution [8] and by Bradbury and Baeyens measured in NaClO₄ solution [39]. This was considered because not only Na⁺ but also Ca²⁺ competed for the sorption with Eu³⁺, and because Ca²⁺ is well known as a strong coagulant for montmorillonite. The effects of the difference in the surface properties between MX-80 and Na-SWy-2, the difference in initial concentration (maybe negligible: 1 × 10⁻⁷ m in this study and 2 × 10⁻⁷ m) and the presence of Ca²⁺ are left for future study.

The 2SPNE SC/CE model incorporated in PHREEQC [38] was applied to simulate the pH_m and ionic strength dependences of K_d values of Eu on MX-80. Since the Pitzer parameters for Eu in Na–Ca–Cl solution are not available, the dependences of K_d values of Eu on pH_m and I up to I = 4 m were used to decide the surface complexation reactions and the constants of surface complexation reactions and cation exchange reaction. We adopted the specific ion interaction theory (SIT [40]) to estimate the activity coefficients of species in solutions and used thermodynamic constants for Eu aqueous species from the JAEA thermodynamic database [41] and from the study by Spahiu and Bruno (Eu-Cl complexations) [42]. The JAEA thermodynamic database contains the SIT parameters to estimate the activity coefficients [41]. The thermodynamic data used for the model calculation was shown in Supplementary Material (Table S1). To initiate the fitting of the model, the constants of surface complexation reactions and cation exchange reaction for Eu on Na-SWy-2 montmorillonite in NaCl solution reported by Schnurr et al. [8] were used for the initial values of constants. Values of other parameters such as protolysis constants were the same as those used by Walker et al. [43]. To simulate clay proton titration data, two types of high surface density protolysable sites (W1 and W2) were considered in the 2SPNE SC/CE model. However, in the latest version of the 2SPNE SC/CE model [44] and the study by Schnurr et al. [8], only strong sites, S, were used for modelling cation surface complexation data at trace metal ion concentrations, and the calculations successfully predicted the experimental data [8,44]. Hence, we also considered only strong sites in this study.

Table S1.

Thermodynamic data used for sorption model calculation

The fitting results were shown in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b). The optimized parameters at an infinite dilute solution for MX-80 obtained in this study and other studies for montmorillonite/ bentonite [8,15,39] are summarized in Table 1. Dominant surface complexation reactions at I = 4 m are illustrated in Fig. 4 (shown as percentage sorption).

Fig. 3

K_d prediction by 2SPNE SC/CE model. (a) Ionic strength = 0.1, 0.5 and 1 m; (b) ionic strength = 2 and 4 m.

Table 1

Parameters to model Eu sorption for MX-80 in Na–Ca–Cl solutions with 2SPNE SC/CE model and the literature values for montmorillonite/ bentonite [8,15,39]

Fig. 4

Sorption edges of Eu on MX-80 as a function of pH_m at I = 0.1 and 4 m. Sorption data (symbols) show percentage sorption. Curves represent calculation results with the 2SPNE SC/CE model. Eu surface complexation at I = 4 m is illustrated in dashed lines.

It was found that the pH_m and I dependences predicted by 2SPNE SC/CE model agreed well with the experimental data obtained in this study. The surface complexation constant value of the reaction ≡S^sOH + Eu³⁺ ↔ ≡S^sOEu²⁺ + H⁺ optimized in this study (log K_sc = 2.2) was greater than the range of the surface complexation constant value of the linear free energy relationship (LFER) (0.6 ≤ log K_sc ≤ 1.5) [39], but it was similar to the value reported by Schnurr et al [8]. The optimized log K_sc values for the surface complexation reactions ≡S^sOH + Eu³⁺ + H₂O ↔ ≡S^sOEu(OH)⁺ + 2H⁺ and ≡S^sOH + Eu³⁺ + 2H₂O ↔ ≡S^sOEu(OH)₂ + 3H⁺ were lower than those reported by Schnurr et al. [8], but were within the range of LFER (−7.7 ≤ log K_sc ≤ −6.5 and −16.6 ≤ log K_sc ≤ −14.9, respectively). Schnurr et al. [8] considered the surface complexation reaction ≡S^sOH + Eu³⁺ + 3H₂O ↔ ≡S^sOEu(OH)₃ + 4H⁺ to improve the fitting between the model results and the experimental data at pH_m > 10. In this study, we measured the K_d values at pH_m ≤ 10 and could reproduce the experimental data well with the model without considering the surface complexation reaction ≡S^sOH + Eu³⁺ + 3H₂O ↔ ≡S^sOEu(OH)₃ + 4H⁺.

It was considered that cation exchange was a dominant sorption reaction which controlled the sorption of Eu onto MX-80 for pH_m < 4 whereas the surface complexation of Eu with –OH groups at the surface of MX-80 dominated its sorption for pH_m > 4. It is well known that high background electrolyte concentrations suppress cation exchange reaction [8]. This explains the low sorption of Eu at pH_m < 4 and high I (I ≥ 0.5 m).

These results suggest that the sorption of Eu on MX- 80 in a Na–Ca–Cl solution at pH ≤ 10 and I = 0.1 m to 4 m could be simulated by three surface complexation reactions and one cation exchange reaction. Grambow et al. [15] studied the sorption of Eu on MX-80 in 0.066 mol·L⁻¹ Ca(NO₃)₂ solution and showed that instead of the surface complexation reaction ≡S^sOH + Eu³⁺ + 2H₂O ↔ ≡S^sOEu(OH)₂ + 3H⁺, the surface complexation reaction ≡S^sOH + Eu³⁺ + 3H₂O ↔ ≡S^sOEu(OH)₃ + 4H⁺ dominated sorption at pH > 9. On the other hand, Grambow et al. [15] also reported that the sorption of Am on MX-80 in 0.1 mol·L⁻¹ NaClO₄ at pH < 10 could be simulated with three surface complexation reactions ≡S^sOH + Am³⁺ ↔ ≡S^sOAm²⁺ + H⁺, ≡S^sOH + Am³⁺ + H₂O ↔ ≡S^sOAm(OH)⁺ + 2H⁺ and ≡S^sOH + Am³⁺ + 2H₂O ↔ ≡S^sOAm(OH)₂ + 3H⁺ as well as cation exchange reaction. This also indicates that the effect of the type of electrolyte on the Eu sorption on MX-80 is a topic for future study.

4. Conclusions

The dependence of K_d values of Eu onto MX-80 in Na– Ca–Cl solutions on pH_m (3–10) and I (0.1–6 m) was studied. The following conclusions were drawn in this work.