4.8 Article

Structural properties of ultra-small thorium and uranium dioxide nanoparticles embedded in a covalent organic framework

Journal

CHEMICAL SCIENCE
Volume 11, Issue 18, Pages 4648-4668

Publisher

ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/c9sc06117g

Keywords

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Funding

  1. Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Heavy Element Chemistry Program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) at LBNL [DE-AC02-05CH11231]
  2. U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences [DE-AC02-76SF00515]
  3. Canada Foundation for Innovation
  4. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
  5. University of Saskatchewan
  6. Government of Saskatchewan
  7. Western Economic Diversification Canada
  8. National Research Council Canada
  9. Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  10. Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AC02-05CH11231]
  11. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) LDRD Program
  12. Glenn T. Seaborg Institute for Transactinium Science
  13. National Nuclear Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy [89233218CNA000001]
  14. Office of Biological and Environmental Research

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We report the structural properties of ultra-small ThO2 and UO2 nanoparticles (NPs), which were synthesized without strong binding surface ligands by employing a covalent organic framework (COF-5) as an inert template. The resultant NPs were used to observe how structural properties are affected by decreasing grain size within bulk actinide oxides, which has implications for understanding the behavior of nuclear fuel materials. Through a comprehensive characterization strategy, we gain insight regarding how structure at the NP surface differs from the interior. Characterization using electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering indicates that growth of the ThO2 and UO2 NPs was confined by the pores of the COF template, resulting in sub-3 nm particles. X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy results indicate that the NPs are best described as ThO2 and UO2 materials with unpassivated surfaces. The surface layers of these particles compensate for high surface energy by exhibiting a broader distribution of Th-O and U-O bond distances despite retaining average bond lengths that are characteristic of bulk ThO2 and UO2. The combined synthesis and physical characterization efforts provide a detailed picture of actinide oxide structure at the nanoscale, which remains highly underexplored compared to transition metal counterparts.

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