Low-sintering-temperature borosilicate glass to immobilize silver-coated silica-gel with different iodine loadings

To better deal with the radioactive iodine generated during the development of nuclear energy, B₂O₃, Bi₂O₃, ZnO, and SiO₂ were used to sinter borosilicate glass for the immobilization of iodine. The effect of B₂O₃ on glass formation was discussed by changing the molar ratio of B₂O₃ in the matrix. When B₂O₃ content is 50 mol% and sintering temperature is 600 ℃, the amorphous degree of quaternary glass is the highest. The sintered body with the highest degree of amorphous was selected to study radioactive iodine. Then, the effects of different iodine loading concentrations for sintering borosilicate glass in terms of microstructure and phase change were discussed. With the increase in iodine content on silica-gel, the degree of amorphous of the specimens presented a decreasing trend, and there are obvious SiO₂ peaks. When the content was 20 wt.%-30 wt.%, a large number of new phases were generated. When the iodine content is 20 wt.%, in addition to the enrichment of Si and O elements, the elemental distribution for B, Bi, Zn, I, and Ag was even. TEM results also showed that there was a crystalline phase in the sinter.