Description
These studies are extremely important for understanding the influence of phosphorus on thorium binding, which is necessary to control the mobility of this element in the environment. Due to the fact that thorium can be used as fuel in nuclear power plants and in the situation of moving away from coal-fired electricity production, this issue is currently gaining more and more practical importance.
The mechanisms of Th binding and immobilization are of fundamental importance for determining and predicting both the stabilizing capacity and the migration potential or developing remedial strategies. XANES measurements are an excellent tool for analysis, because they allow for a deeper insight into the sample. Therefore, understanding the modification of composite materials by the Th(IV) sorption process requires XANES spectroscopy to study the local structure of complexes in the solid phase. Measurements performed on the ASTRA beamline allowed for recording XANES spectra of thorium measured at the M4 and M5 absorption edges, while the phosphorus spectrum at the K edge.
