Kinetic investigation of the hydrolysis of uranium hexafluoride gas

Abstract

UF6is commonly employed in enrichment technologies and is known to react rapidly with water vapor to form radioactive particulates and hydrofluoric acid vapor. The kinetics of the UF6hydrolysis reaction have been observed directly for the first time. The rate appears to be half order and second order for UF6and water, respectively, with a rate constant of 1.19 ± 0.22 Torr−3/2s−1. The proposed mechanism involves formation of the [UF6·2H2O] adductviatwo separate reactions.