Aquatic colloids relevant to radionuclide migration: characterization by size fractionation and ICP-mass spectrometric detection

The application of the flow-field flow fractionation (FFFF) combined with on-line ICP-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to the characterization of aquatic colloids is described. The capabilities and drawbacks of the technique are discussed with the aid of two examples. (1) The size distribution of smectitic colloids dispersed from a natural bentonite is determined by FFFF and laser light scattering (LLS) and compared with the size information obtained by ICP-MS detection. Due to the pronounced size dependency of the scatter light intensity, the LLS detection tends to overestimate the larger sized particles. Therefore, the FFFF-ICP-MS fractogram delivers more reliable size information. (2) Groundwater humic/fulvic colloids and the humic matter extracted from the corresponding sediment, both taken from the Gorleben aquifer (Lower Saxony, Northern Germany), are analysed by FFFF-ICP-MS. The location of REE, U, Th and Ca in different colloid size fractions appears to be very similar in both samples. The element specific fractograms suggest in agreement with earlier studies the location of Th and the REE mainly in inorganic colloids>17 nm containing also Fe and/or Al. U and Ca appear to be distributed between larger colloids and the fulvic/humic acid fraction with a size <3 nm. The results demonstrate that even in groundwater/sediment systems with high humic/fulvic content, inorganic colloids may play an important role as carrier for polyvalent metal ions. The consequences of this finding on the applicability of in-situ Kd values for U, Th and REE, taken as naturally abundant representatives of the nuclear waste derived actinides, for the assessment of laboratory sorption data is discussed.