Characterization of Synthetic Mixed Valence U Compounds
EMSL Project ID
16896
Abstract
The efforts proposed herein will explore the synthetic reaction conditions necessary to produce and stabilize pentavalent uranium oxide species under hydrothermal conditions. U(V) is a fleeting oxidation state in aqueous solution as it tends to disproportionate to U(VI) and U(IV). Our previous work has shown that a narrow range of reaction conditions, including appropriate temperatures, co-reactants and pH range can lead to pentavalent U containing compounds. We intend to extend these efforts with the goal of delineating reaction conditions necessary for the formation of U(V) containing compounds (from U(VI)) and their stabilization under hydrothermal conditions. Further, we intend to establish structural systematics of these materials through x-ray crystallographic studies coupled to laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. Synthesis and XRD will be done at George Washington University, and the spectroscopic work will be performed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).The latter will be done in collaboration with Eugene Ilton, Zheming Wang, and Nancy Hess of PNNL. Such efforts will provide valuable structural information (bond lengths, angles etc) that will be of significant importance for future modeling investigations.
Project Details
Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2005-12-07
End Date
2007-03-22
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members