Abstract
Characterization of the penta- and hexavalent dioxo cations of NpO2+, NpO22+, PuO22+, and AmO22+ has been carried out by diffuse reflectance UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy, with the first observations of NpO2+, NpO22+, and AmO22+ in the solid state. Absorbance measurements confirmed the presence of the higher actinides of Np, Pu, and Am, with shifts in their absorbance bands indicating the formation of the dinitrate species in the crystalline phase. The oxidized actinides were prepared in the solid state by co-crystallization with UO2(NO3)2·6H2O by a simple reduction in temperature. The hexavalent species were all co-crystallized in near proportion to UO22+ and the pentavalent species was co-crystallized in a slightly less efficient manner, roughly 83% of that of UO22+,.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 608-612 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Dalton Transactions |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This work was sponsored by the Nuclear Energy University Program, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, under Award No. DE-NE0008653, for which the authors are very grateful. The transuranic isotopes used in this research were supplied by the United States Department of Energy Office of Science by the Isotope Program in the Office of Nuclear Physics. We want to acknowledge Dr Luis H. Ortega of the Fuel Cycle and Materials Laboratory in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University who aided in obtaining the SEM images and EDS measurements.