Non-supercritically dried silica-silica composite aerogel and its possible application for confining simulated nuclear wastes

Aravind, PR; Shajesh, P; Mukundan, P; Pillai, PK; Warrier, KGK

HERO ID

1612424

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year

2008

HERO ID 1612424
In Press No
Year 2008
Title Non-supercritically dried silica-silica composite aerogel and its possible application for confining simulated nuclear wastes
Authors Aravind, PR; Shajesh, P; Mukundan, P; Pillai, PK; Warrier, KGK
Journal Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology
Volume 46
Issue 2
Page Numbers 146-151
Abstract The simpler non-supercritical drying approach has been used for the first time for the preparation of silica-silica composite aerogels (CA) and the efficiency of the process being demonstrated by testing the use of the aerogels for simulated high level nuclear waste confinement. Compositions of 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 wt% of silica (aerosil(R) 380) in silica-aerogel were prepared by introducing pyrogenic silica in to silica sol derived by hydrolysis of Tetraethoxy silane (TEOS). The silica-silica composite aerogels (CA) possessed very high surface area and low bulk densities. The effectiveness of the prepared composite aerogels as precursor for high level nuclear waste immobilized glass is also presented. Neodymium nitrate dissolved in isopropanol is used to simulate +3 valent actinides. The stability of neodymium in the glass matrix has been found to be extremely high. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been used to characterise the aerogels as well as neodymium incorporated sintered gels. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies of the sintered samples reveal the formation of neodymium silicates.
Doi 10.1007/s10971-008-1714-3
Wosid WOS:000255033500005
Is Certified Translation No
Dupe Override No
Comments Source: Web of Science WOS:000255033500005
Is Public Yes
Keyword composite aerogels; aerosil; subcritical drying; permeability; nuclear waste confinement