Retention of barium and europium radionuclides from aqueous solutions on ash-based sorbents by application of radiochemical techniques

New materials were synthesized for application in sorption of radionuclides from aqueous solutions. The elaboration was performed by conversion of power plant ash using the hydrothermal method under optimum experimental conditions. Sodalite, Na-Y, and analcime were formed from ash precursor during the treatment, exhibiting thermal stability as revealed by the characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA). The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area and pore volume were determined and they presented higher values than plant ash. The ability of the new products to retain Ba and Eu radionuclides was studied in aqueous solutions using ¹³³Ba and ¹⁵²Eu as tracers and γ-ray spectroscopy under batch experiments. The experimental data were modeled by the Langmuir and Freundlich equations, whereas sorption kinetics measurements were performed at 293, 308, and 323 K and thermodynamic parameters were calculated. The release of the sorbed ions into the environment was also tested by leaching experiments. The results of these tests indicated that the synthesized materials are very efficient in removing the aforementioned metals from aqueous solutions and can be considered as potential low-cost sorbents in nuclear waste management. - Highlights: • Conversion of plant ash to zeolitic structure materials which can be used as sorbents in the nuclear waste management. • Characterization of the new materials by several techniques (XRD, TGA, BET). • Study of parameters influencing the Ba and Eu-sorption using γ-ray spectrosopy. • The new sorbents exhibited good uptake capacity in Ba and Eu-sorption and low leachability. • The process is physical sorption, spontaneous and endothermic in nature.