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.