Study of barytocalcite as a conditioning matrix for carbon 14: Comparison of several synthesis routes

Abstract Carbon-14 arising from the spent nuclear fuel reprocessing can disseminate into natural cycles and then its sequestration could be advantageous. In this study, we focus on the ceramic phase barytocalcite BaCa(CO3)2 (8.08 wt.% C) obtained from different synthesis routes. We show that several elaboration routes are possible but only two emerge ensuring a high reaction yield for a fast process. The first is a room temperature aqueous precipitation with nitrated precursors and the other is a double salt high temperature reaction with carbonated starting compounds, both of these precursors being compatible with the usual carbon-14 trapping process. The sensibility to experimental conditions of reference synthesis route and the reaction mechanisms are investigated and discussed.