Mechanical and leaching properties of neodymium-contaminated soil glass-ceramics

The safe treatment of radioactive-contaminated soil is of great significance. In this work, neodymium-contaminated soil was successfully immobilized using microwave sintering to form glass-ceramics. The microstructure, morphology, elemental distribution, Vickers hardness, and chemical durability of the sintered samples were analyzed. The results showed that the glass-ceramic is more suitable to immobilize the waste compared with the glass matrix. XRD and SEM-EDS results proved that the waste form has been totally immobilized in the sintered matrix whether in glass-ceramics and glass. However, the leaching rate of element Nd in glass-ceramic was lower than the glass matrix at 28 d. Moreover, the Vickers hardness results of glass-ceramic were higher than that of glass. Thus, glass-ceramics can not only reduce sintering temperature and save energy but also achieve a better immobilizing effect. Our investigation reflects that glass-ceramics are more suitable for neodymium-contaminated soil immobilization using the microwave sintering method.