Uranyl

The effect is more than just a matter of pH. As shown in Fig. XV-14, phospholipid monolayers can be expanded at low pH values by the presence of phosphotungstate ions [123], which disrupt the stmctival order in the lipid film [124]. Uranyl ions, by contrast, contract the low-pH expanded phase presumably because of a type of counterion condensation [123]. These effects caution against using these ions as stains in electron microscopy. Clearly the nature of the counterion is very important. It is dramatically so with fatty acids that form an insoluble salt with the ion here quite low concentrations (10 M) of divalent ions lead to the formation of the metal salt unless the pH is quite low. Such films are much more condensed than the fatty-acid monolayers themselves [125-127]. 

LIF is also used witii liquid and solid samples. For example, LIF is used to detect lJO ions in minerals the uranyl ion is responsible for the bright green fluorescence given off by minerals such as autunite and opal upon exposure to UV light [23],... 

The larger cations of Group 1 (K, Rb, Cs) can be precipitated from aqueous solution as white solids by addition of the reagent sodium tetraphenylborate, NaB(C( H5)4. Sodium can be precipitated as the yellow sodium zinc uranium oxide ethanoate (sodium zinc uranyl acetate). NaZn(U02)3(CH3C00)y. 9H2O. by adding a clear solution of zinc uranyl acetate in dilute ethanoic acid to a solution of a sodium salt. 

Use of the oxidation number and charge number extends the range for radicals for example, uranyl(VI) or uranyl(2+) cation UOJ, uranyl(V) or uranyl(l+) cation. 

Uranium Dissolve 2.1095 g U02(N03)2 6H2O (or 1.7734 g uranyl acetate dihydrate) in water... 

A rather more specific mechanism of microbial immobilization of metal ions is represented by the accumulation of uranium as an extracellular precipitate of hydrogen uranyl phosphate by a Citrobacter species (83). Staggering amounts of uranium can be precipitated more than 900% of the bacterial dry weight Recent work has shown that even elements that do not readily form insoluble phosphates, such as nickel and neptunium, may be incorporated into the uranyl phosphate crystallites (84). The precipitation is driven by the production of phosphate ions at the cell surface by an external phosphatase. 

TBP and nitric acid also tend to form a complex with each other, but at sufftcientiy high uranyl nitrate concentrations the nitric acid is mainly displaced into the aqueous phase. 

Uranium ores are leached with dilute sulfuric acid or an alkaline carbonate [3812-32-6] solution. Hexavalent uranium forms anionic complexes, such as uranyl sulfate [56959-61-6], U02(S0 3, which are more selectively adsorbed by strong base anion exchangers than are other anions in the leach Hquors. Sulfate complexes are eluted with an acidified NaCl or ammonium nitrate [6484-52-2], NH NO, solution. Carbonate complexes are eluted with a neutral brine solution. Uranium is precipitated from the eluent and shipped to other locations for enrichment. Columnar recovery systems were popular in South Africa and Canada. Continuous resin-in-pulp (RIP) systems gained popularity in the United States since they eliminated a difficult and cosdy ore particle/leach hquor separation step. 

The solvent, a solution of either sulfuric acid or sodium carbonate, forms the stable complex uranyl ions U02(S04) "2) U02(SO ) )... 

Uranium. The uranium product from the PUREX process is in the form of uranyl nitrate which must be converted to some other chemical depending on anticipated use. One route to MO fuel is to mix uranium and plutonium nitrates and perform a coprecipitation step. The precipitate is... 

Homogeneous Aqueous Reactors. As a part of the research on neutron multiphcation at Los Alamos in the 1940s, a small low power reactor was built using a solution of uranium salt. Uranyl nitrate [36478-76-9] U02(N0 2> dissolved in ordinary water, resulted in a homogeneous reactor, having uniformly distributed fuel. This water boiler reactor was spherical. The 235u... 

The Los Alamos water boiler served as a prototype for the first university training reactor, started in September 1953 at North Carolina State College. The cylindrical reactor core used uranyl sulfate [1314-64-3] UO2SO4, and cooling water tubes wound inside the stainless steel container. A thick graphite reflector surrounded the core. 

The homogeneous reactor experiment-2 (HRE-2) was tested as a power-breeder in the late 1950s. The core contained highly enriched uranyl sulfate in heavy water and the reflector contained a slurry of thorium oxide [1314-20-1J, Th02, in D2O. The reactor thus produced fissile uranium-233 by absorption of neutrons in thorium-232 [7440-29-1J, the essentially stable single isotope of thorium. Local deposits of uranium caused reactivity excursions and intense sources of heat that melted holes in the container (18), and the project was terrninated. 

Actinide Peroxides. Many peroxo compounds of thorium, protactinium, uranium, neptunium, plutonium, and americium are known (82,89). The crystal stmctures of a number of these have been deterrnined. Perhaps the best known are uranium peroxide dihydrate [1344-60-1/, UO 2H20, and, the uranium peroxide tetrahydrate [15737-4-5] UO 4H2O, which are formed when hydrogen peroxide is added to an acid solution of a uranyl salt. 

Raffinate acid from the first cycle, containing approximately 7 to 14 g/L U Og is then reoxidized and re-extracted in the second, purification cycle using a solvent containing 0.3 Af D2EHPA and 0.075 AfTOPO. The loaded solvent is washed with iron-free acid to remove iron and then with water to remove extracted and entrained acid. The solvent is stripped with ammonium carbonate [506-87-6] to yield ammonium uranyl tricarbonate [18077-77-5] which is subsequendy calcined to U Og (yellow cake). The stripped solvent is regenerated with mineral acid before recycling (39). 

The alkah metals are commonly separated from all other elements except chlorine before gravimetric determination. In the absence of other alkaUes, sodium maybe weighed as the chloride or converted to the sulfate and weighed. WeU-known gravimetric procedures employ precipitation as the uranyl acetate of sodium—2inc or sodium—magnesium. Quantitative determination of sodium without separation is frequently possible by emission or atomic-absorption spectrometric techniques. 

In 1896, Becquerel discovered that uranium was radioactive (3). Becquerel was studying the duorescence behavior of potassium uranyl sulfate, and observed that a photographic plate had been darkened by exposure to the uranyl salt. Further investigation showed that all uranium minerals and metallic uranium behaved in this same manner, suggesting that this new radioactivity was a property of uranium itself In 1934, Fermi bombarded uranium with neutrons to produce new radioactive elements (4). 

Ratios of U and U to Th and Ra daughters, combined with differences in chemical reactivity have been used to investigate the formation and weathering of limestone in karst soils of the Jura Mountains, and of the mountains in the central part of Switzerland. Uranium contained within calcite is released during weathering, and migrates as stable uranyl(VI) carbonato complexes through the soil. In contrast, the uranium decay products, Th and Ra,... 

Ion Excha.nge, The recovery of uranium from leach solutions using ion exchange is a very important process (42). The uranium(VI) is selectively adsorbed to an anion-exchange resin as either the anionic sulfato or carbonato complexes. In carbonate solutions, the uranyl species is thought to be the tris carbonato complex, U02(C03) 3 [24646-13-7] and from sulfate solutions the anion is likely to be U02(S0 , where nis ) [56959-61-6] or 2 [27190-85-8], The uranium is eluted from the resin with a salt or acid solution of 1 AfMCl or MNO (M = H", Na", The sulfate solution is... 

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