Abstract
Uranium is a high-value energy element, yet also poses an appreciable environmental burden. The demand for a straightforward, low energy, and environmentally friendly method for encapsulating uranium species can be beneficial for long-term storage of spent uranium fuel and a host of other applications. Leveraging on the low melting point (60 °C) of uranyl nitrate hexahydrate and nanocapillary effect, a uranium compound is entrapped in the hollow core of WS2 nanotubes. Followingly, the product is reduced at elevated temperatures in a hydrogen atmosphere. Nanocrystalline UO2 nanoparticles anchor within the WS2 nanotube lumen are obtained through this procedure. Such methodology can find utilization in the processing of spent nuclear fuel or other highly active radionuclides as well as a fuel for deep space missions. Moreover, the low melting temperatures of different heavy metal-nitrate hydrates, pave the way for their encapsulation within the hollow core of the WS2 nanotubes, as demonstrated herein.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 2307684 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Small |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 14 |
| Early online date | 21 Dec 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Apr 2024 |
Funding
The experimental data used in this research were generated through access to the ActUsLab/FMR under the Framework of access to the Joint Research Centre Physical Research Infrastructures of the European Commission (AUL‐252 “Inorganic nanotubes as a matrix for uranium oxides” WS2‐INT‐UO(NO)‐melt‐nanocapillary WS2INT, Research Infrastructure Access Agreement N°36344/04 Ares(2022)7760670). Z.S. was supported by ERC‐CZ program (project LL2101) from Ministry of Education Youth and Sports (MEYS) and used large infrastructure from project Advanced Functional Nanorobots (reg. No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15 003/0000444 financed by ERDF). The authors acknowledge Prof. Jiri Pinkas Ph.D. and MSc. Jiri Krivohlavek from Masaryk University, Brno for discussion and support. The authors thank Dr. Kristyna Bukvisova for the session time and consultations. RT acknowledges the support of The Estate of Manfred Hecht and the Estate of Diane Recanati. The authors are also grateful to the Irving and Cherna Moskowitz Center for Nano and Bio‐Nano Imaging, the Perlman Family Foundation, and the Kimmel Center for Nanoscale Science. The article is dedicated to St. Albertus Magnus. 2 3 2
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Biotechnology
- General Chemistry
- Biomaterials
- General Materials Science
- Engineering (miscellaneous)