A comparative study on the sorption of tri- and hexavalent actinides on sea sediments

Abstract

The interaction of tri- and hexavalent actinides with local, Cypriot marine sediments has been investigated as a function of initial metal concentration, before and after “coating” with natural organic matter. Evaluation of the sorption data shows that the affinity of sea sands for actinides depends considerably on their oxidation state. On the other hand, “coating” of the sand particles with humic acid results in significantly higher sorption capacity. Comparison of laboratory and field data shows that the former could be a useful tool for a qualitative description of the chemical behavior of actinides in seawater environments. © 2017, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.