Synthesis and characterization of hollandite-type material intended for the specific containment of radioactive cesium

The hollandite Ba1Cs0.28Fe0.82Al1.46Ti5.72O16, which has been proposed for the cesium-specific conditioning, can be synthesized either by an alcoxyde or a dry route. In both cases, a two-step protocol is applied, i.e., a calcination at 1000 °C followed by a sintering at 1200 °C. After sintering, both synthetic processes lead to a tetragonal form. According to the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns collected at the barium and the cesium K absorption edges, the different positions of these two elements have been evidenced with a more centered position in the oxygen cubic site of the tunnel for Ba than for Cs. On the contrary, after calcination, the two synthetic routes yield different products. The alcoxyde route gives rise to a mixture of the aforementioned Cs- and Ba-containing tetragonal I4/m hollandite, a Cs-only-containing monoclinic I2/m hollandite and an unidentified phase with a weak coherence length containing only Ba. The dry route yields a single tetragonal hollandite material containing Ba and Cs slightly different in composition from the targeted compound.