Gelation of uranyl ions and gel-derived uranium oxide nanoparticles for gas sensing.

ABSTRACT: We developed a sol-gel method to synthesize uranium oxide nanoparticles with a clean surface and mixed valences of uranium at the surface. Uranyl gel was formed in ethylene glycol without incorporating any organic gelator and was readily converted to uranium dioxide nanoparticles with uniform size via microwave treatment. The as-prepared uranyl gel showed a high storage modulus of 0.48 kPa. The formation of the gel skeleton benefits from interlinkage of uranyl ions, which was revealed by UV-Vis spectroscopy and X-ray absorption. The U[double bond, length as m-dash]O_ax bond was elongated by 0.1 Å and the U-O_eq bond was shortened by 0.25 Å by the gelation. The gel showed thixotropic and self-healing properties owing to the soft connection in the gel skeleton and

SUBMITTER: Ding L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9419799 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature