TY - JOUR
T1 - Synthesis and preservation of graphene-supported uranium dioxide nanocrystals
AU - Ma, Hanyu
AU - Wang, Haitao
AU - Burns, Peter C.
AU - McNamara, Bruce K.
AU - Buck, Edgar C.
AU - Na, Chongzheng
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was mainly supported by the USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy 's Nuclear Energy University Programs (Project 12-3923 ) and the University of Notre Dame Sustainable Energy Initiative . We thank Yong Wang for performing some of the synthetic and analytical experiments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/7/1
Y1 - 2016/7/1
N2 - Graphene-supported uranium dioxide (UO2) nanocrystals are potentially important fuel materials. Here, we investigate the possibility of synthesizing graphene-supported UO2 nanocrystals in polar ethylene glycol compounds by the polyol reduction of uranyl acetylacetone under boiling reflux, thereby enabling the use of an inexpensive graphene precursor graphene oxide into a one-pot process. We show that triethylene glycol is the most suitable solvent with an appropriate reduction potential for producing nanometer-sized UO2 crystals compared to monoethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, and polyethylene glycol. Graphene-supported UO2 nanocrystals synthesized with triethylene glycol show evidence of heteroepitaxy, which can be beneficial for facilitating heat transfer in nuclear fuel particles. Furthermore, we show that graphene-supported UO2 nanocrystals synthesized by polyol reduction can be readily stored in alcohols, impeding oxidation from the prevalent oxygen in air. Together, these methods provide a facile approach for preparing and storing graphene-supported UO2 nanocrystals for further investigation and development under ambient conditions.
AB - Graphene-supported uranium dioxide (UO2) nanocrystals are potentially important fuel materials. Here, we investigate the possibility of synthesizing graphene-supported UO2 nanocrystals in polar ethylene glycol compounds by the polyol reduction of uranyl acetylacetone under boiling reflux, thereby enabling the use of an inexpensive graphene precursor graphene oxide into a one-pot process. We show that triethylene glycol is the most suitable solvent with an appropriate reduction potential for producing nanometer-sized UO2 crystals compared to monoethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, and polyethylene glycol. Graphene-supported UO2 nanocrystals synthesized with triethylene glycol show evidence of heteroepitaxy, which can be beneficial for facilitating heat transfer in nuclear fuel particles. Furthermore, we show that graphene-supported UO2 nanocrystals synthesized by polyol reduction can be readily stored in alcohols, impeding oxidation from the prevalent oxygen in air. Together, these methods provide a facile approach for preparing and storing graphene-supported UO2 nanocrystals for further investigation and development under ambient conditions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84963542554&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.03.027
DO - 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.03.027
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84963542554
VL - 475
SP - 113
EP - 122
JO - Journal of Nuclear Materials
JF - Journal of Nuclear Materials
SN - 0022-3115
ER -