New insights into 99Tc(VII) removal by pyrite: A spectroscopic approach

99Tc(VII) uptake by synthetic pure pyrite was studied in a wide pH range from 3.5 to 10.5 using batch experiments at 21°C combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman microscopy. We found that pyrite removes Tc quantitatively from solution (log Kd = 5.0 ± 0.1) within one day at pH ≥ 5.5. At pH < 5.5 the uptake process is slower, leading to 98% Tc removal (log Kd = 4.5 ± 0.1) after 35 days. The slower Tc uptake was explained by higher pyrite solubility under acidic conditions. After two months in contact with oxygen at pH 6 and 10, Tc was neither re-oxidized nor re-dissolved. XAS showed that the uptake mechanism involves the reduction from Tc(VII) to Tc(IV) and subsequent inner-sphere complexation of Tc(IV)-Tc(IV) dimers onto a Fe oxide like hematite at pH 6, and Tc(IV) incorporation into magnetite via Fe(III) substitution at pH 10. Calculations of Fe speciation under the experimental conditions predict the formation of hematite at pH < 7.5 and magnetite at pH > 7.5, explaining the formation of the two different Tc species depending on the pH. XPS spectra showed the formation of TcSx at pH 10, being a small fraction of a surface complex, potentially a transient phase in the total redox process.