Stable Uranium Oxide Under Atmospheric Conditions: An Electroplating Technique for U Film Fabrication at Boron-Doped Diamond Electrodes

Armando Peña-Duarte; Alexis J Acevedo-González; Richard M Lagle; Mebougna Drabo; Stephen U Egarievwe; Carlos R Cabrera

doi:10.1021/acsmaterialsau.3c00007

Stable Uranium Oxide Under Atmospheric Conditions: An Electroplating Technique for U Film Fabrication at Boron-Doped Diamond Electrodes

ACS Mater Au. 2023 May 18;3(4):351-359. doi: 10.1021/acsmaterialsau.3c00007. eCollection 2023 Jul 12.

Authors

Armando Peña-Duarte¹, Alexis J Acevedo-González², Richard M Lagle³, Mebougna Drabo³, Stephen U Egarievwe⁴, Carlos R Cabrera¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968, United States.
² Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00926, United States.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Alabama A&M University, Huntsville, Alabama 35762, United States.
⁴ Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Alabama A&M University, Huntsville, Alabama 35762, United States.

Abstract

An electrodeposition technique of low-enriched uranium onto boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes for uranium electro-assembling, sequestration, uranium electrowinning (as the electroextraction alternative), and future neutron detection applications has been developed. Our findings through physicochemical characterization and an in-depth XPS analysis show that the U/BDD system consists of a blend of uranium oxides with IV, V, and VI oxidation states. Results show that U⁵⁺ is present and stable under open atmospheric conditions. The U electrodeposition on BDD creates smooth surfaces, free of voids, with uniform deposition of homogeneous tiny particles of stable uranium oxides, instead of chunky particles, and uranium compound mixtures, like large fibers of the precursor uranyl. Our electrochemical method operates without high temperatures or hazardous compounds. Uranium corrosion and oxidation processes occur spontaneously and parallel to the electrochemical formation of metallic uranium on BDD electrode surfaces, with metallic uranium reacting with water, producing fine particles of UO₂. This work represents the first attempt to create a surface of uranium oxides, where the film thickness can be controlled for future applications, e.g., improving sensitivity in neutron detection technologies. Our U electro-assembling method provides a sustainable strategy for uranium electro-recovery from nuclear wastes, immobilizing uranium as a storage method or as U-film fabrication (U/BDD) for future neutron detection applications. Besides, this work contributes to uranium-based technologies, improving them and providing a better understanding of their electrochemical properties, e.g., uranium redox processes, uranium oxides' formation, and stability evaluation. These properties are of remarkable need for uranium-based target formation. The use of our U/BDD method is proposed as an environmental protocol to recover and immobilize uranium-235, and other fissile materials, from civil and defense wastes, contaminated systems, and stockpiles.