Publication details
Preparation of Ultrafine Nanofibrous Uranium Oxides by Electrospinning
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | We are introducing for the first time a robust method for the preparation and production of uranium oxidenanofibers with extraordinary thin diameters. We have studied preparation of U3O8and UO2nanofibers, from uranyl acetylacetonate, which is soluble in organic solventsand suitable for facile electrospinning process. Polyvinylpyrrolidonewas used as a supporting polymer. Beside studying and optimizing the precursor solution systems, we have examined also effects of collecting material on the properties of the fiber mat. We have found that calcination of electrospun composite fibers deposited on aluminum foil produces very thin fibers of U3O8 due to the prevention of nanofiber shrinking. We have studied also calcination on ash-lesspaper and calcination of freestanding composite matsfor identifying the best possible supporting material,however aluminum foil was found asthemost viable due to thinning effect on average diameter of calcined nanofibers. Reduction of U3O8 fibers in H2/N2atmosphere provideddepending on used temperature mixturesofU3O8andUO2 ultimately leading to fully reduced product UO2. Obtained averagediametersof reduced fiberswere close to 100 nm and in many cases with a wide distribution of sizes where also ultrathin nanofibers around 10-20 nm were observed. Electrospinning is a widespread method which can be also extended to industrial scale therefore the resulting materials mayrepresent a useful addition to the family of nanocrystalline uranium oxideswhich could be used in nuclear industry or as heterogenous catalysts. |