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Mechanochemical synthesis of crystalline U() triperoxide solids
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Mechanochemical synthesis of crystalline U() triperoxide solids

Dmytro V Kravchuk and Tori Z Forbes
CrystEngComm, Vol.24(4), pp.775-781
01/25/2022
DOI: 10.1039/d1ce01479j

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Abstract

Mechanochemical reactivity of uranium trioxide (UO 3 ) in the presence of solid metal peroxides resulted in the formation of crystalline uranyl triperoxide phases, m 30 -UO 3 -Li 2 O 2 and m 15 -UO 3 -Na 2 O 2 . Powder X-ray diffraction patterns of m 30 -UO 3 -Li 2 O 2 and m 15 -UO 3 -Na 2 O 2 corresponded to [UO 2 (O 2 ) 3 ] 12 [(UO 2 (OH) 4 )Li 16 (H 2 O) 28 ] 3 ·Li 6 [H 2 O] 26 and Na 4 [UO 2 (O 2 ) 3 ]·9H 2 O compounds, respectively. Recrystallization of the solid phases in water after grinding resulted in the formation of uranyl carbonate mineral phases, such as ejkaite Na 4 [UO 2 (CO 3 ) 3 ]. This study demonstrated the first solvent-free synthetic pathway to uranyl triperoxide solids that avoid generation of radioactive liquid waste. Mechanochemical reaction of UO 3 with metal peroxides (M 2 O 2 ) yields U( vi ) triperoxide materials without producing radioactive solvent wastes.

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