| Abstract Scope |
The nuclear industry constantly produces toxic radionucleides like Iodine-129, which need to be confined efficiently over thousands of years. Concerning the conditioning of Iodine, one promising approach consists in incorporating the element in robust inorganic matrices like apatites. Apatites are compounds of general formula M<SUB>10</SUB>(XO<SUB>4</SUB>)<SUB>6</SUB>Y<SUB>2</SUB> (M = Ca<SUP>2+</SUP>, Pb<SUP>2+</SUP>…; XO<SUB>4</SUB> = (PO<SUB>4</SUB>)<SUP>3-</SUP>, (VO4)<SUP>3-</SUP>…; Y = OH<SUP>-</SUP>, F<SUP>-</SUP>…). Iodine has been incorporated in apatites under the form of iodide (I<SUP>-</SUP>), in compounds like Pb<SUB>10</SUB>(VO<SUB>4</SUB>)<SUB>4.8</SUB>(PO<SUB>4</SUB>)<SUB>1.2</SUB>I<SUB>2</SUB>. However, the amount of iodine in these phases is limited to ~8 wt.%, and their industrial processing would have required using SPS. Recently, we have proposed a new way of incorporating iodine in hydroxyapatite (Ca<SUB>10</SUB>(PO<SUB>4</SUB>)<SUB>6</SUB>(OH)<SUB>2</SUB>) under mild conditions, using iodates (IO<SUB>3</SUB><SUP>-</SUP>). Here, the synthesis of these phases will be presented, together with their characterization by XRD, <SUP>1</SUP>H NMR, Raman, and I L<SUB>3</SUB> K- edge XANES. Their thermal stability and resistance to leaching will be described. |