Research advances in chemical interaction mechanism between highly compacted bentonite and pore solution

LIAO Raoping; CHEN Yonggui; LIU Cong; YE Weimin; WU Dongbei; WANG Qiong

doi:10.11779/CJGE20240208

Volume 47 Issue 5

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Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering > 2025 > 47(5): 1089-1098. > DOI: 10.11779/CJGE20240208

LIAO Raoping, CHEN Yonggui, LIU Cong, YE Weimin, WU Dongbei, WANG Qiong. Research advances in chemical interaction mechanism between highly compacted bentonite and pore solution[J]. Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 2025, 47(5): 1089-1098. DOI: 10.11779/CJGE20240208

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Research advances in chemical interaction mechanism between highly compacted bentonite and pore solution

LIAO Raoping^1,,
CHEN Yonggui^{1, 2, ,},
LIU Cong¹,
YE Weimin^{1, 2},
WU Dongbei³,
WANG Qiong^{1, 2}

1.
Department of Geotechnical Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
2.
State Key Laboratory of Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
3.
School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China

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Received Date: February 03, 2024
Available Online: June 05, 2024

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Abstract

Abstract

The highly compacted bentonite, as the preferred buffer/backfill materials, is inevitably subjected to chemical erosion in the T-H-M-C environment of the high-level radioactive waste repositories, leading to dissolution or phase transition of smectite, and diminishing the buffer performance. The latest researches on the chemical mechanism are summarized on the basis of reviewing the effects of the solution on the buffer performance of the compacted bentonite. The analysis indicates that the dissolution or phase transformation of layered smectite into a framework mineral is the key factor leading to the attenuation of the specific surface area, density, water retention, swelling and permeation resistance of bentonite. The chemical interaction mechanisms include mineral phase transformation and chemical cementation. The phase transformation of minerals is influenced by chemical composition, pH, temperature and catalytic ions of the pore solution, and can be divided into isomorphous phase transformation and recrystallization. The chemical cementation associates with saline precipitate filling and the cementation of aluminosilicate gelation during wetting-drying cycles. The dissolution rate of minerals in bentonite is influenced by both the intrinsic factors like surface area and stress, and the extrinsic factors including pore solution. Further clarification of chemical reaction parameters, cementation effects and multi-field coupling reaction model within the bentonite reaction system remains the focus of further researches on the chemical evolution of bentonite in the future.
- deep geological repository,
- high-level radioactive waste,
- compacted bentonite,
- pore solution,
- chemical interaction mechanism,
- advance

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