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Energetics of hydration on uranium oxide and peroxide surfaces

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 June 2019

Xiaofeng Guo Open the ORCID record for Xiaofeng Guo [Opens in a new window] ,
Di Wu Open the ORCID record for Di Wu [Opens in a new window] ,
Sergey V. Ushakov ,
Tatiana Shvareva ,
Hongwu Xu  and
Alexandra Navrotsky
Xiaofeng Guo*
Affiliation:
Alexandra Navrotsky Institute for Experimental Thermodynamics, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA; and Department of Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA
Di Wu*
Affiliation:
Alexandra Navrotsky Institute for Experimental Thermodynamics, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA; Department of Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA; and The Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA
Sergey V. Ushakov
Affiliation:
Peter A. Rock Thermochemistry Laboratory and NEAT ORU, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA
Tatiana Shvareva
Affiliation:
Peter A. Rock Thermochemistry Laboratory and NEAT ORU, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA
Hongwu Xu
Affiliation:
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
Alexandra Navrotsky*
Affiliation:
Peter A. Rock Thermochemistry Laboratory and NEAT ORU, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA
*
a)Address all correspondence to these authors. e-mail: [email protected]
b)e-mail: [email protected]
c)e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Enthalpies of water adsorption on amorphous and crystalline oxides and peroxides of uranium are reported. Despite substantial structural and computational research on reactions between actinides and water, understanding their surface interactions from the energetic perspective remains incomplete. Direct calorimetric measurements of hydration energetics of nano-sized, bulk-sized UO2, U3O8, anhydrous γ-UO3, amorphous UO3, and U2O7 were carried out, and their integral adsorption enthalpies were determined to be −67.0, −70.2, −73.0, −84.1, −61.6, and −83.6 kJ/mol water, with corresponding water coverages of 4.6, 4.5, 4.1, 5.2, 4.4, and 4.1 H2O per nm2, respectively. These energetic constraints are important for understanding the interfacial phenomena between water and U-containing phases. Additionally, this set of data also helps predict the absorption and desorption behavior of water from nuclear waste forms or used nuclear fuels under repository conditions. There are also underlying relations for water coverage among different U compounds. These experimentally determined data can be used as benchmark values for future computational investigations.

Keywords

uranium oxideuranium peroxidecalorimetrywater adsorptionsurface enthalpy
Type
Invited Paper
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 34 , Issue 19: Focus Issue: Thermodynamics of Complex Solids , 14 October 2019 , pp. 3319 - 3325
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2019 

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Footnotes

d)

This author was an editor of this journal during the review and decision stage. For the JMR policy on review and publication of manuscripts authored by editors, please refer to http://www.mrs.org/editor-manuscripts/.

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