Cesium immobilization in (Ba,Cr)-hollandites: Effects on structure

Abstract

Hollandites with compositions Ba1.15−xCs2xCr2.3Ti5.7O16 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1.15) intended for the immobilization of cesium (Cs) from nuclear waste have been prepared, characterized, and analyzed for Cs retention properties. Sol-gel synthesized powders were used for structural characterization using a combination of X-ray, neutron, and electron diffraction techniques. Phase-pure hollandites adopting tetragonal (I4/m) or monoclinic symmetry (I2/m) were observed to form in the compositional range 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4. Structural models for the compositions, x = 0, 0.15, and 0.25 were developed from Rietveld analysis of powder diffraction data. Refined anisotropic displacement parameters (βij) for the Ba and Cs ions in the hollandite tunnels indicate local disorder of Ba/Cs along the tunnel direction. In addition, weak superlattice reflections were observed in X-ray and electron diffraction patterns that were due to the compositional modulation i.e., ordering of ions and vacancies along tunnel direction. Our overall observations suggest the phase-pure hollandites studied assumed supercell structures with ordered tunnel cations, which in turn have positional disorder in individual supercells.