Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Redox separations of plutonium

Conference ·
OSTI ID:370662
;  [1]
  1. Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
An understanding of the oxidation state speciation of plutonium in solution is vital to predicting its behavior in ecological systems. The redox chemistry of plutonium involves the III, IV, V, and VI states with two or three states of ten present in equilibrium. Acidic solutions favor the lower oxidation states as Pu(III), and Pu(IV), while in basic media the higher oxidation states as Pu(V)O{sub 2}{sup +} and Pu(VI)O{sub 2}{sup 2+} are stabilized. Hydrolysis, complexation, and sorption can perturb the oxidation state equilibrium of plutonium. Such a diverse redox chemistry allows for the easy purification of plutonium on laboratory and industrial (i.e. PUREX) scales, but complicates separation studies of plutonium speciation in natural waters. Some fundamental aspects of plutonium chemistry are discussed with particular focus on their influence on plutonium oxidation state speciation. The value of using plutonium to teach redox equilibria is also reviewed.
OSTI ID:
370662
Report Number(s):
CONF-960376--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Radiation-induced non-equilibrium redox chemistry of plutonium: implications for environmental migration
Technical Report · Tue Feb 10 23:00:00 EST 2009 · OSTI ID:948206

Influence of Iron Redox Transformations on Plutonium Sorption to Sediments
Journal Article · Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Radiochimica Acta, 98(9-11):685-692 · OSTI ID:1000116

Plutonium(VI) sorption to manganese dioxide.
Conference · Tue Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2002 · OSTI ID:976542