A STUDY OF THE FIRST POLAROGRAPHIC WAVE OF THE URANYL ION IN WATER AND WATER-ETHANOL SYSTEMS

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1963

OSTI ID:4161923

Childs, W V

The first wave of the polarographic reduction of the uranyl ion was investigated. The polarographic variables were studied as functions of the uranyl concentration, the concentration of added chloride, and the concentration of added acid in various ethanol-water solvent systems. Experimentally it was observed that for the reduction, U(VI) + e= U(V) the diffusion current is not a linear function of the uranyl concentration. The half-wave potential for this reduction was found to become more negative with increasing uranyl concentration. It was observed that in ethanol-rich solvents containing appreciable amounts of chloride the reduction process is not the one-electron reduction to U(V), but it is apparently a two-electron reduction to U(IV). This conclusion was drawn from changes in the product of the diffusion current constant and the square root of the viscosity and from the slope of the plot of the potential at the dropping mercury electrode vs the logarithm of the ratio i/(i/sub d/ -- 1). A simple model was proposed that predicted that the limiting current for the reduction to U(V) should fit an equation of the form i/sub o/ k/sub 1/C + k/sub 2/C where i/ sub o/ is the observed limiting current, ki and k/sub 2/ are constants, and C is the uranyl concentration. This equation was found to represent the experimental data to within experimental error. This model was also shown to predict that the half-wave potential should become more negative with increasing uranyl concentration. (M.P.G.)

• Research Organization: Originating Research Org. not identified
• NSA Number: NSA-18-000247
• OSTI ID: 4161923
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIOCHEMISTRY
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
CHLORIDES
DIFFUSION
DOSEMETERS
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
ELECTROCHEMISTRY
ELECTRODES
ELECTRONS
EQUATIONS
ETHANOL
FABRICATION
FUELS
IMPURITIES
ION EXCHANGE
IRRADIATION
MERCURY
PLUTONIUM
POLAROGRAPHY
PRECIPITATION
PREPARATION
QUANTITY RATIO
RADIATIONS
RADIOACTIVITY
REDUCTION
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SHIELDING
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
URANIUM 233
URANYL COMPOUNDS
VISCOSITY
WASTE PROCESSING
WATER