June 14, 2023
Report

Developing a Fundamental Knowledge Base for the Interaction of Ruthenium with Natural and Engineered Iron-Bearing Materials

Abstract

The intent of this project is to build a fundamental knowledge base concerning the redox coupling between Ru and Fe in heterogeneous systems with predictive applications towards the fate, speciation, and transport of Ru in the environment and its capture using available technologies. RuNOCl3 and Fe3+ are redox active over a broad range of pH. Initial assessment of effect of redox coupling between Ru and Fe indicates that Fe(III) in ferrihydrite can oxidize Ru2+ in RuNOCl3 to Ru(IV) during coprecipitation at ambient conditions and alkaline pH. Further, evidence suggests that Ru(IV) is incorporated in the structure of fh. Likewise, Fe3+(aq) also reduces Ru2+ in RuNOCl3 in the homogenous system at acidic pH although the kinetics of reaction appear to be slow. Rufh annealed to 500 0C transforms to Ru(III) doped hematite. AIMD informed EXAFS indicates that Ru substitutes for Fe(III) in regular octahedral sites of hematite but requires three distinct configurations involving edge-sharing protonated Fe vacancies and straight substitution with no local defects. Fe2+(aq) appears to oxidize at the surface of RuO2, but the amount is too low to reasonably expect detectable reduced Ru. Future experiments at higher pH are warranted to make Fe2+(aq) less stable (i.e., make more redox active). We also demonstrated that we can functionalize Si aerogels with Fe(II) and Fe(III) but likely need to go to higher T to make Feo nanoparticles.

Published: June 14, 2023

Citation

Ilton E.S., N.J. Henson, J. Matyas, and M. Sassi. 2021. Developing a Fundamental Knowledge Base for the Interaction of Ruthenium with Natural and Engineered Iron-Bearing Materials Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.