Properties of Bentonite Clay as Buffer Material in High-Level Waste Geological Disposal. Part I: Chemical Species Contained in Bentonite

Bentonite clay is one of the most promising candidates for use as buffer material in the geological disposal systems of high-level waste. However, very little has been reported on the ionic species contained in bentonite clay itself, especially the anion species. Chemical analyses of bentonite clay materials were carried out. It was found that the major anion species contained in the bentonite clay materials are , Cl‾, and CO₂ species. The amounts of these differ among the clay samples depending on the origins and the processing of the clay materials. A clay material used in a series of our experiments was also analyzed for cation species contained, and adsorption experiments were carried out for the major ions contained in the clay materials. No adsorption of the anions on the clay particles was observed, and it was found that the adsorption of Na⁺ can be explained as the ion exchange equilibrium between Na⁺ and H⁺.