The Role of the Organic Solvent Polarity in Isolating Uranyl Peroxide Capsule Fragments

The Role of Alkalis in Orchestrating Uranyl-Peroxide Reactivity Leading to Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide

Spectator ions have known and emerging roles in aqueous metal-cation chemistry, respectively directing solubility, speciation, and reactivity. Here, we isolate and structurally characterize the last two metastable members of the alkali uranyl triperoxide series, the Rb+ and Cs+ salts (Cs-U1 and Rb-U1). We document their rapid solution polymerization via small-angle X-ray scattering, which is compared to the more stable Li+, Na+ and K+ analogues. To understand the role of the alkalis, we also quantify alkali-hydroxide promoted peroxide deprotonation and decomposition, which generally exhibits increasing reactivity with increasing alkali size. Cs-U1, the most unstable of the uranyl triperoxide monomers, undergoes ambient direct air capture of CO2 in the solid-state, converting to Cs4[UVIO2(CO3)3], evidenced by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. We have attempted to benchmark the evolution of Cs-U1 to uranyl tricarbonate, which involves a transient, unstable hygroscopic solid that contains predominantly pentavalent uranium, quantified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Powder X-ray diffraction suggests this intermediate state contains a hydrous derivative of CsUVO3, where the parent phase has been computationally predicted, but not yet synthesized.

Polyoxometalate-Structured Materials: Molecular Fundamentals and Electrocatalytic Roles in Energy Conversion

Polyoxometalates (POMs), a kind of molecular metal oxide cluster with unique physical-chemical properties, have made essential contributions to creating efficient and robust electrocatalysts in renewable energy systems. Due to the fundamental advantages of POMs, such as the diversity of molecular structures and large numbers of redox active sites, numerous efforts have been devoted to extending their application areas. Up to now, various strategies of assembling POM molecules into superstructures, supporting POMs on heterogeneous substrates, and POMs-derived metal compounds have been developed for synthesizing electrocatalysts. From a multidisciplinary perspective, the latest advances in creating POM-structured materials with a unique focus on their molecular fundamentals, electrocatalytic roles, and the recent breakthroughs of POMs and POM-derived electrocatalysts, are systematically summarized. Notably, this paper focuses on exposing the current states, essences, and mechanisms of how POM-structured materials influence their electrocatalytic activities and discloses the critical requirements for future developments. The future challenges, objectives, comparisons, and perspectives for creating POM-structured materials are also systematically discussed. It is anticipated that this review will offer a substantial impact on stimulating interdisciplinary efforts for the prosperities and widespread utilizations of POM-structured materials in electrocatalysis.

Crystallization of a Neptunyl Oxalate Hydrate from Solutions Containing NpV and the Uranyl Peroxide Nanocluster U60 Ox30

Uranyl peroxide nanoclusters are an evolving family of materials with potential applications throughout the nuclear fuel cycle. While several studies have investigated their interactions with alkali and alkaline earth metals, no studies have probed their interactions with the actinide elements. This work describes a system containing U₆₀ Ox₃₀ , [((UO₂ )(O₂ ))₆₀ (C₂ O₄ )₃₀ ]^60- , and neptunium(V) as a function of neptunium concentration. Ultra-small and small angle X-ray scattering were used to observe these interactions in the aqueous phase, and X-ray diffraction was used to observe solid products. The results show that neptunium induces aggregation of U₆₀ Ox₃₀ when the neptunium concentration is≤10 mM, whereas (NpO₂ )₂ C₂ O₄  ⋅ 6H₂ O(cr) and studtite ultimately form at 15-25 mM neptunium. The latter result suggests that neptunium coordinates with the bridging oxalate ligands in U₆₀ Ox₃₀ , leaving metastable uranyl peroxide species in solution. This is an important finding given the potential application of uranyl peroxide nanoclusters in the recycling of used nuclear fuel.

Gamma-Ray-Induced Formation of Uranyl Peroxide Cage Clusters

Aqueous solutions of lithium uranyl triperoxide, Li₄[UO₂(O₂)₃] (LiUT), were irradiated with gamma rays at room temperature and found to form the uranyl peroxide cage cluster, Li₂₄[(UO₂)(O₂)(OH)]₂₄ (Li-U₂₄). Raman spectroscopy and ¹⁸O labeling were used to identify the Raman-active vibrations of LiUT. With these assignments, the concentration of LiUT was tracked as a function of radiation dose. A discrepancy between monomer removal and cluster formation suggests that the reaction proceeds by the assembly of an intermediate. Non-negative matrix factorization was used to separate Raman spectra into components and resulted in the identification of a unique intermediate species. Much of the conversion appears to be driven by water radiolysis products, particularly the hydroxyl radical. This differs from the ¹⁸O-labeled copper-catalyzed formation of U₂₄, which progresses at a steady rate with no observation of intermediates. Li-U₂₄ in solution decomposes at high radiation doses resulting in a solid insoluble product similar to Na-compreignacite, Na₂(UO₂)₆O₄(OH)₆·7H₂O, which contains uranyl oxyhydroxy sheets.

Assembly of Uranyl Peroxides from Ball Milled Solids

Mechanochemistry enables transformations of highly insoluble materials such as uranium dioxide or the mineral studtite [(UO₂)(O₂)(H₂O)₂]·(H₂O)₂ into uranyl triperoxide compounds that can subsequently assemble into hydroxide-bridged uranyl peroxide dimers in the presence of lithium hydroxide. Dissolution of these solids in water yields uranyl peroxide nanoclusters including U₂₄, Li₂₄[(UO₂)(O₂)(OH)]₂₄. Insoluble uranium solids can transform into highly soluble uranyl peroxide phases in the solid state with miniscule quantities of water. Such reactions are potentially applicable to uranium processing in the front and back end of the nuclear fuel cycle.

Theoretical Prediction of Graphene-like 2D Uranyl Material with p-Orbital Antiferromagnetism

Versatile graphene-like two-dimensional materials with s-, p- and d-block elements have aroused significant interests because of their extensive applications while there is a lack of f-block one. Herein we report...

Reactivity, Formation, and Solubility of Polyoxometalates Probed by Calorimetry

Room temperature calorimetry methods were developed to describe the energy landscapes of six polyoxometalates (POMs), Li-U24, Li-U28, K-U28, Li/K-U60, Mo132, and Mo154, in terms of three components: enthalpy of dissolution (ΔHdiss), enthalpy of formation of aqueous POMs (ΔHf,(aq)), and enthalpy of formation of POM crystals (ΔHf,(c)). ΔHdiss is controlled by a combination of cation solvation enthalpy and the favorability of cation interactions with binding sites on the POM. In the case of the four uranyl peroxide POMs studied, clusters with hydroxide bridges have lower ΔHf,(aq) and are more stable than those containing only peroxide bridges. In general for POMs, the combination of calorimetric results and synthetic observations suggest that spherical topologies may be more stable than wheel-like clusters, and ΔHf,(aq) can be accurately estimated using only ΔHf,(c) values owing to the dominance of the clusters in determining the energetics of POM crystals.

Polyoxometalate-based complexes as ligands for the study of actinide chemistry

The complexation of actinide cations by polyoxometalates (POMs) has been extensively studied over the past 50 years. In this perspective article, we present the rich structural diversity of actinide-POM complexes and their contribution to the extension of our knowledges of actinide chemistry, especially regarding aspect of their redox chemistry, as well as application for the capture and separation of these cations in the context of nuclear fuel remediation. These heterometallic assemblies have also proven highly valuable as model for heterogeneous systems based on actinides supported by metal oxide surfaces. In particular, activation of the An-O bond of actinyl fragments upon complexation with lacunary POMs has been reported, creating opportunities for future developments regarding the reactivity of these heterometallic assemblies.

Oxygen and peroxide bridged uranyl(vi) dimers bearing tetradentate hybrid ligands: supramolecular self-assembly and generation pathway

Crystals of U(vi) complexes with N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-2,2′-bipyridine-6,6′-dicarboxamide and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxamide were obtained under variable reaction conditions, and the structures were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.