The application of visible absorption spectroscopy to the analysis of uranium in aqueous solutions

L. M. Colletti; R. Copping; K. Garduno; E. J.W. Lujan; A. K. Mauser; A. Mechler-Hickson; I. May; S. D. Reilly; D. Rios; J. Rowley; A. B. Schroeder; A. K. Mauser; A. B. Schroeder; R. Copping

doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2017.07.051

The application of visible absorption spectroscopy to the analysis of uranium in aqueous solutions

L. M. Colletti, R. Copping, K. Garduno, E. J.W. Lujan, A. K. Mauser, A. Mechler-Hickson, I. May, S. D. Reilly, D. Rios, J. Rowley, A. B. Schroeder, A. K. Mauser, A. B. Schroeder, R. Copping

Radioisotope Science and Technology Divi

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

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Through assay analysis into an excess of 1 M H₂SO₄ at fixed temperature a technique has been developed for uranium concentration analysis by visible absorption spectroscopy over an assay concentration range of 1.8–13.4 mgU/g. Once implemented for a particular spectrophotometer and set of spectroscopic cells this technique promises to provide more rapid results than a classical method such as Davies-Gray (DG) titration analysis. While not as accurate and precise as the DG method, a comparative analysis study reveals that the spectroscopic method can analyze for uranium in well characterized uranyl(VI) solution samples to within 0.3% of the DG results. For unknown uranium solutions in which sample purity is less well defined agreement between the developed spectroscopic method and DG analysis is within 0.5%. The technique can also be used to detect the presence of impurities that impact the colorimetric analysis, as confirmed through the analysis of ruthenium contamination. Finally, extending the technique to other assay solution, 1 M HNO₃, HCl and Na₂CO₃, has also been shown to be viable. Of the four aqueous media the carbonate solution yields the largest molar absorptivity value at the most intensely absorbing band, with the least impact of temperature.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	390-405
Number of pages	16
Journal	Talanta
Volume	175
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2017.07.051
State	Published - Dec 1 2017

Funding

We thank the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office of Material Management and Minimization (M3) for funding and J. Driscoll (SHINE) for useful discussions. We also thank the Los Alamos National Laboratory Seaborg Institute for a Summer Research Fellowship (A. B. Schroeder) and the University of New Mexico Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program funded through the National Science Foundation for a summer fellowship (A.K. Mauser). Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the National Nuclear Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC52-06NA25396.

Funders	Funder number
Los Alamos National Laboratory Seaborg Institute
University of New Mexico Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program
National Science Foundation	1826758
U.S. Department of Energy	DE-AC52-06NA25396
National Nuclear Security Administration

Keywords

Uranium concentration analysis
Uranyl spectroscopy
Visible absorption spectroscopy

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10.1016/j.talanta.2017.07.051

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Colletti, L. M., Copping, R., Garduno, K., Lujan, E. J. W., Mauser, A. K., Mechler-Hickson, A., May, I., Reilly, S. D., Rios, D., Rowley, J., Schroeder, A. B., Mauser, A. K., Schroeder, A. B., & Copping, R. (2017). The application of visible absorption spectroscopy to the analysis of uranium in aqueous solutions. Talanta, 175, 390-405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2017.07.051

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abstract = "Through assay analysis into an excess of 1 M H2SO4 at fixed temperature a technique has been developed for uranium concentration analysis by visible absorption spectroscopy over an assay concentration range of 1.8–13.4 mgU/g. Once implemented for a particular spectrophotometer and set of spectroscopic cells this technique promises to provide more rapid results than a classical method such as Davies-Gray (DG) titration analysis. While not as accurate and precise as the DG method, a comparative analysis study reveals that the spectroscopic method can analyze for uranium in well characterized uranyl(VI) solution samples to within 0.3% of the DG results. For unknown uranium solutions in which sample purity is less well defined agreement between the developed spectroscopic method and DG analysis is within 0.5%. The technique can also be used to detect the presence of impurities that impact the colorimetric analysis, as confirmed through the analysis of ruthenium contamination. Finally, extending the technique to other assay solution, 1 M HNO3, HCl and Na2CO3, has also been shown to be viable. Of the four aqueous media the carbonate solution yields the largest molar absorptivity value at the most intensely absorbing band, with the least impact of temperature.",

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The application of visible absorption spectroscopy to the analysis of uranium in aqueous solutions

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