Uranium sulfate
Encyclopedia
Uranium sulfate is a water soluble salt of uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...

. It is a very toxic compound
Chemical compound
A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...

 and should not be ingested. Uranium sulfate minerals commonly are widespread around uranium bearing mine sites, where they usually form during the evaporation of acid sulfate-rich mine tailings which have been leached by oxygen-bearing waters. Uranium sulfate is a transitional compound in the production of Uranium hexafluoride
Uranium hexafluoride
Uranium hexafluoride , referred to as "hex" in the nuclear industry, is a compound used in the uranium enrichment process that produces fuel for nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. It forms solid grey crystals at standard temperature and pressure , is highly toxic, reacts violently with water...

. It was also used to fuel aqueous Homogeneous Reactor
Aqueous homogeneous reactor
Aqueous homogeneous reactors are a type of nuclear reactor in which soluble nuclear salts have been dissolved in water. The fuel is mixed with the coolant and the moderator, thus the name "homogeneous" The water can be either heavy water or light water, both which need to be very pure...

s

Preparation

Uranyl sulfate
Uranyl sulfate
Uranyl sulfate a sulfate of uranium is an odorless lemon-yellow sand-like solid in its pure crystalline form.It has found use as a negative stain in microscopy and tracer in biology...

in solution is readily photochemically reduced to uranium(IV) sulfate. The photoreduction can be carried out in the sunshine and this requires the addition of ethanol as a reducing agent. Uranium(IV) crystallizes or is precipitated by ethanol in excess. It can be obtained with different degrees of hydration.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK