Hydrothermal decomposition of actinide(IV) oxalates: A new aqueous route towards reactive actinide oxide nanocrystals

Abstract

The hydrothermal decomposition of actinide(IV) oxalates (An= Th, U, Pu) at temperatures between 95 and 250 °C is shown to lead to the production of highly crystalline, reactive actinide oxide nanocrystals (NCs). This aqueous process proved to be quantitative, reproducible and fast (depending on temperature). The NCs obtained were characterised by X-ray diffraction and TEM showing their size to be smaller than 15 nm. Attempts to extend this general approach towards transition metal or lanthanide oxalates failed in the 95-250 °C temperature range. The hydrothermal decomposition of actinide oxalates is therefore a clean, flexible and powerful approach towards NCs of AnO2 with possible scale-up potential.