PNNL

Abstract

The heterogeneous reduction of UVI to UIV by ferrous iron is a potentially key process influencing the fate and transport of U in the environment. The reactivity of both sorbed and structural FeII has been studied for numerous substrates, including magnetite. The results from UVI-magnetite experiments have been variable, ranging from no reduction to clear evidence for the formation of UIV. In this contribution, we used XAS and high resolution (+cryogenic) XPS to study the interaction of UVI with nano-particulate magnetite. The results indicated that UVI was partially reduced to UV with no evidence of UIV. However, thermodynamic calculations indicated that mixed-valence U phases with average oxidation states below (V) should have been stable, indicating that the system was not in redox equilibrium. A reaction pathway that involves incorporation of U and stabilization of UV and UVI in secondary phases is invoked to explain the observations.