Synthesis of U3O8 and UO2 microspheres using microfluidics

J. Matthew Kurley; Rodney D. Hunt; Jake W. McMurray; Andrew T. Nelson

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153784

Synthesis of U₃O₈ and UO₂ microspheres using microfluidics

J. Matthew Kurley, Rodney D. Hunt, Jake W. McMurray, Andrew T. Nelson

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Uranium-bearing microspheres below 50µm with a narrow size distribution allows for a wider variety of fuel forms. To accommodate the smaller size, gel microspheres with a composition of UO₃∙nH₂O∙mNH₃ were synthesized using microfluidics and subsequently converted to U₃O₈ and UO₂. To accommodate the slower flow rates required by microfluidics, a more stable broth was established. The gelation studies resulted in a broth that was stable for more than two days at 0°C and for close to 3 h at room temperature while still gelling within 25 s. Synthesis of gel microspheres with a narrow size distribution lasted for 5 h and produced ∼0.5 g of air-dried material. The gelled microspheres were converted to U₃O₈ and UO₂ and with sizes of 50 and 40 µm in diameter, respectively.

Original language	English
Article number	153784
Journal	Journal of Nuclear Materials
Volume	566
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153784
State	Published - Aug 1 2022

Funding

The authors would like to thank C. Hobbs for assistance with imaging of the microspheres. R. Seibert, A. Kercher, and C. Petrie at ORNL provided helpful comments on the manuscript. This research was sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, aLEU. Notice: This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ).

Funders	Funder number
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Nuclear Energy

Keywords

Internal gelation
Microfluidics
Nuclear fuels
Uranium microspheres

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153784

Cite this

@article{2858f26747764b76a7447bbf63c55c2d,

title = "Synthesis of U3O8 and UO2 microspheres using microfluidics",

abstract = "Uranium-bearing microspheres below 50µm with a narrow size distribution allows for a wider variety of fuel forms. To accommodate the smaller size, gel microspheres with a composition of UO3∙nH2O∙mNH3 were synthesized using microfluidics and subsequently converted to U3O8 and UO2. To accommodate the slower flow rates required by microfluidics, a more stable broth was established. The gelation studies resulted in a broth that was stable for more than two days at 0°C and for close to 3 h at room temperature while still gelling within 25 s. Synthesis of gel microspheres with a narrow size distribution lasted for 5 h and produced ∼0.5 g of air-dried material. The gelled microspheres were converted to U3O8 and UO2 and with sizes of 50 and 40 µm in diameter, respectively.",

keywords = "Internal gelation, Microfluidics, Nuclear fuels, Uranium microspheres",

author = "Kurley, {J. Matthew} and Hunt, {Rodney D.} and McMurray, {Jake W.} and Nelson, {Andrew T.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022",

year = "2022",

month = aug,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153784",

language = "English",

volume = "566",

journal = "Journal of Nuclear Materials",

issn = "0022-3115",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Synthesis of U3O8 and UO2 microspheres using microfluidics

AU - Kurley, J. Matthew

AU - Hunt, Rodney D.

AU - McMurray, Jake W.

AU - Nelson, Andrew T.

PY - 2022/8/1

Y1 - 2022/8/1

N2 - Uranium-bearing microspheres below 50µm with a narrow size distribution allows for a wider variety of fuel forms. To accommodate the smaller size, gel microspheres with a composition of UO3∙nH2O∙mNH3 were synthesized using microfluidics and subsequently converted to U3O8 and UO2. To accommodate the slower flow rates required by microfluidics, a more stable broth was established. The gelation studies resulted in a broth that was stable for more than two days at 0°C and for close to 3 h at room temperature while still gelling within 25 s. Synthesis of gel microspheres with a narrow size distribution lasted for 5 h and produced ∼0.5 g of air-dried material. The gelled microspheres were converted to U3O8 and UO2 and with sizes of 50 and 40 µm in diameter, respectively.

AB - Uranium-bearing microspheres below 50µm with a narrow size distribution allows for a wider variety of fuel forms. To accommodate the smaller size, gel microspheres with a composition of UO3∙nH2O∙mNH3 were synthesized using microfluidics and subsequently converted to U3O8 and UO2. To accommodate the slower flow rates required by microfluidics, a more stable broth was established. The gelation studies resulted in a broth that was stable for more than two days at 0°C and for close to 3 h at room temperature while still gelling within 25 s. Synthesis of gel microspheres with a narrow size distribution lasted for 5 h and produced ∼0.5 g of air-dried material. The gelled microspheres were converted to U3O8 and UO2 and with sizes of 50 and 40 µm in diameter, respectively.

KW - Internal gelation

KW - Microfluidics

KW - Nuclear fuels

KW - Uranium microspheres

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130094905&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153784

DO - 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153784

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85130094905

SN - 0022-3115

VL - 566

JO - Journal of Nuclear Materials

JF - Journal of Nuclear Materials

M1 - 153784

ER -