title: Fe-containing ionic liquids as effective and recoverable oxidants for dissolution of UO2 in the presence of imidazolium chlorides.
abstract: Imidazolium-based Fe-containing ionic liquids (ILs) can directly dissolve UO2 in the presence of their corresponding imidazolium chlorides without additional oxidants. The dissolution process follows pseudo first-order kinetics initially. Raman spectroscopic studies indicate that FeCl4(2-) is the predominant reduction product after UO2 dissolution, and attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicates that the UO2(2+) complex is the principal product in the ILs. The dissolved uranyl species can be successfully separated from the Fe-containing ILs via a combination of centrifugation and solvent extraction, and also, the Fe-containing ILs can be recovered easily. In conclusion, imidazolium-based Fe-containing ionic liquids in the presence of imidazolium chlorides could be used as effective and recoverable oxidants for the dissolution of UO2.
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Aining
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Taiwei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chu