Adsorption of radioelements on mixtures of minerals - experimental study

An experimental study has been undertaken concerning the adsorption of radi oelements on mixtures of minerals. The question is whether the adsorption o f trace elements by rocks and soils can be easily predicted from the proper ties of the constituent minerals. The goal of these experiments was the com parison between the measurements of distribution coefficients of some radio elements for pure minerals and for binary mixtures according to the Doehler t's uniform shell designs and to test an additive law of combination of Kd. The results showed that when one of the constituents acts as a dilutant in the mixture, i.e. it presents a very low adsorption capacity with respect to some trace element, then the relations of additivity of Kd are fulfilled . Otherwise, these relations are not satisfied and this is probably caused, in the present cases, by interactions from solubilized species. (C) 2000 E lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.